British and Irish Lions coach Ian McGeechan readily admits that his team will need to shift up a few gears as they look towards the opening Test against the Springboks, in Durban on Saturday, but he is happy that his charges have developed a "winning mentality" in their unbeaten run on tour thus far.

Speaking after the 26-23 victory over Western Province at the weekend, the Lions mentor praised aspects such as the players' attitude and focus, while adding that he was pleased with "parts" of what they were doing.

"We know that next week [against the Boks] is going to be a different level," he said after his team needed a 76th-minute penalty from Welsh flyhalf James Hook to secure the win against WP at the weekend.

Despite the nature of his team's performance in the testing conditions at Newlands, McGeechan feels they have shown enough during the first five matches on tour to ensure they will be up for the Bok challenge.

"The attitude of the player and their focus on the field when it's coming down to the wire, they showed how much winning means and how important it is for us," McGeechan said, adding: "I think that's vital when we are building towards the first Test."

Of course there are a few things that rankles with the coach, such as the fact that they allowed Province back into the game after taking a commanding lead.

"It would be nice, when we get the scoreboard ticking, to keep that gap between the two teams.

"We didn't quite manage it [against WP]," he added.

He also spoke about the need to establish the team's game plan ahead of the three-match series against the Boks, but felt that untimely penalties stopped their momentum.

Despite the obvious hurdles, McGeechan said he was pleased with the team's progress in the first half of the 10-match tour.

"I'm very pleased with the attitude and everything we've been doing in training," he said, adding: "We've seen in every game that we're pleased with parts of what we are doing.

"And yes, next week will be a different level, but if somebody had said [at the start of the tour] that we'd get to this point with what we've done and how we have done it - and the results we've got - I would have been happy with it."

He said that the tries his team scored against Province at the weekend showed just how good his team can be.

"What pleased me was the efficiency of the three tries [against WP], there was some very good rugby in all three of them.

"To be able to do that, to take those sorts of opportunities, that's the key."

The Lions coach was not too concerned about the fact that only the odd Springbok in the current squad has featured in the pre-Test build-up - with suggestions that under-strength teams have not only devalued the tour, but affected the Lions' build-up.

"We can only play what the opposition is and we just have to get on with it," he said, in dismissing the suggestion that it may have affected their build-up.

"We said from the beginning that our focus is going to be on the game we want to play when we get to the Test series... that hasn't changed."

He acknowledged that six games as a pre-Test build-up may not be ideal if you want to gel players from four different countries, but felt they can easily compensate for that in other ways.

"We've got the shortest time of any Lions team - six game to the first Test has never been done before - which is why we have to be very clear about our own game and what we are going to achieve out of it.

"We got to where we are now [unbeaten after five matches] and we've got one game left [against the Southern Kings on Tuesday] before the first Test.

"We are working towards being really competitive in that first Test and that's what we've been trying to do in all our lead-up matches ahead of the Durban encounter.

"You know that when you get to that Test [in Durban] it is just going to be a different level, it doesn't matter what opposition you have played up to that point, that [game] is going to be different."