Wounded British & Irish Lions tipped to hit back in decider against South Africa by captain Alun Wyn Jones

The Lions fell to their heaviest defeat since the calamitous 2005 expedition to New Zealand when they were routed 27-9 at Cape Town Stadium, wiping out the advantage gained from edging the first Test.

Jones accepts that coach Warren Gatland will swing the axe in response to a feeble second-half performance in which 21 unanswered points were conceded, but is convinced the series can be rescued when the tour reaches its climax.

“It’s obviously going to be the biggest week of the tour now. It’s the last chance to put it right. We’re fortunate we’ve got another week,” said the Lions captain. “There has been a lot said about a wounded Springbok but I think the Lions have taken a dent and we need to put it right.

“Immediately after the game we got together and said we had to stick together. There was a lot of eye contact.

“Everyone is well aware that Warren will make changes – he’s notorious for making changes – and we go again. There will probably be opportunities for some and there’s definitely a feeling we can put it right.”

Jones insists it was the Lions’ failings rather than South Africa’s response following their defeat in the first Test that led to their downfall.

“From the the outside it probably looked like a backlash, but from where I’m sitting here we didn’t help ourselves,” added Jones.

“We were well aware of what they were going to improve on. They probably did to us what we wanted to do to them. They tried to do it last week, they probably just did it better and we saw more of it.”