South Africa were made to hold on in the face of a late British and Irish Lions comeback, but the Springboks got the three-Test series off to the perfect start with a 26-21 win in Durban on Saturday.

Based on a dominant first half in which they took a 12-point (19-7) lead, which became 26-7 and stayed that way till just on 70 minutes, the Boks will take heart from this game.

The Lions will look to the last 10 minutes and ponder what could have been.

But in the end the record books will show that South Africa took a one-nil lead in the series and on the evidence of their dominance in the first hour deserved it. And much of that dominance came from the scrum power of prop Tendai Mtawarira.

The Lions supporters almost seem to outnumber the Bok supporters in a stadium that was not a sell-out. It appears the tickets that filtered back from the travel agents did not arrive in time to reach the general public. bThe high prices also didn't help the sale.

But that mattered not to John Smit and his men.

The Boks got an early set piece ascendancy, particularly in the scrums where Tendai Mtawarira made Phil Vickery look like the old man he is - the 10-year age gap showing clearly. But it didn't stop there. The South Africans also stole a number of the Lions' line-outs.

And without the ball the Lions were reduced to a defensive unit in the first quarter, with the occasional kick and chase from the little possession they did have.

The Lions had their moments in the second quarter, but for a few defensive lapses by the Boks - one which directly led to Tom Croft's try - they never really threatened in the first 40 minutes.

However, in the last 10 minutes - when a disrupted Bok team with all the replacements on the field seemed to go to sleep - the visitors finally played some decent attacking rugby.

As cliched as it may sound, it was too little, too late.

An early Springbok mistake, when the chasers were ahead of the kicker, gave the Lions a shot at goal in the second minute, but Stephen Jones' attempt drifted to the left of the uprights.

Within moment the Boks were right on attack when flyhalf Ruan Pienaar put in a grubber behind the Lions' defensive lines. From a scrum five metres out the Boks set up a series of rucks and in the sixth minute captain John Smit burst through and over with a powerful run to open his country's account. Pienaar added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

Another Bok mistake, when fullback Francois Steyn failed to control the restart, gave the Lions their next scoring chance. From a scrum inside the Bok 22 they went left and wing Ugo Monye went for the line. But the TMO ruled that the ball was not grounded and it went to a 22 restart.

And the Boks showed their scrum dominance by winning a penalty in the 10th minute, after Tendai Mtawarira destroyed the Lions front row for the third time in quick succession.

Pienaar slotted the penalty as South Africa stretched their lead to 10-0.

The Lions won another penalty in the 16th minute, for not releasing in the tackle, but again Jones was wide of the mark.

Steyn then slotted a penalty from 45 metres out to make it 13-0, before the Lions staged a strong recovery.

From a scrum and a series of rucks the Lions took it to the right, where Brian O'Driscoll found acres of space in a fragmented Bok defensive line - sending flank Tom Croft over for the tourists' first score. Jones finally landed a kick and after 22 minutes it was 13-7.

But it didn't take long for the Lions to transgress again, with a penalty at a ruck giving Francois Steyn another shot at goal. However, this time he hooked it to the left.

With just under 10 minutes left Mtawarira earned his team another penalty by destroying old man Vickery - with Pienaar taking this shot at goal. He made no mistake and the Boks had a 16-7 lead.

And moments later the Lions transgressed at a ruck, from a rather ordinary Bok grubber that Tommy Bowe failed to control, and Pienaar had another shot at goal. Again the flyhalf was on target as South Africa raced into a 12-point (19-7) lead.

The Lions were dealt a cruel blow when star fullback Lee Byrne left the field, to be replaced by Rob Kearney - just as Phil Vickery collapsed in another heap at a scrum, which earned the Boks yet another penalty.

Pienaar was off target, but with the Springboks taking that 12-point advantage into the break it did not look good for the visitors.

The Boks started the second half by winning an early penalty, from a strong driving maul that went almost 30 metres.

As the Boks went for the line-out, the inevitable front row change came - with Adam Jones came on for Vickery.

That line-out became another penalty and by now the Boks were just 10 metres out. The South Africans had no trouble in marching the Lions pack over their own line, as Heinrich Brussow got his first Test try.

The 19-point margin seemed to finally spark the Lions, with scrumhalf Mike Phillips stretching for a score. But the TMO again ruled against the Lions and the Boks won a five-metre scrum. And from there they easily cleared their lines and won a penalty at a subsequent ruck as the Lions' troubles mounted.

The Boks rung the changes midway through the second half - as Jaque Fourie (for Jean de Villiers), Andries Bekker (for Bakkies Botha) and Danie Rossouw (for Brussow) made their appearance on the field.

Going into the final quarter the Lions had a period of sustained attack, their best moments of the match, but the Bok defence held firm for almost five minutes - before turning the bball over. The Lions won a couple of penalties, but being so far behind on the scoreboard had no option but to go for tries.

The changes continued on both sides, including Morne Steyn making his debut.

These changes seemed to disrupt the hosts, who were soon under pressure as the Lions launched a series of raids ion their line. The reward came ion the form of Croft scoring his second try. Jones landed the conversion and with just about 10 minutes to go there was some hope ... but they needed to score quickly.

That score almost came with eight minutes to go, but a try-saving tackle by Morne Steyn meant the Lions had to regroup.

The Lions continued their late onslaught and with five minutes left on the clock scrumhalf Mike Phillips slipped past a few lethargic Boks at a ruck to score a crucial try. Jones's conversion made it 21-26 - just one try in the game.

And the Boks continued to pay the price for the needless changes, as a knock-on by replacement scrumhalf Enrico Januarie gave the Lions an attacking scrum on the South African 10-metre line.

The Lions now had their tails up against a disorganised Bok outfit and it took some desperate scrambling from Jaque Fourie to save the moment. But a penalty with two minutes to go gave the Lions an attacking line-out on the Bok 22.

However, with Bekker stealing the ball and the Boks winning a penalty soon afterwards, South Africa held out for a win that was much closer (26-21) than it looked to be at half-time.

Man of the match: The most dangerous of the Lions was centre Brian O'Dricoll, who found lots of space in the Bok defensive line. Bok flyhalf Ruan Pienaar's control and his goal-kicking wasn't too bad, while No.8 Pierre Spies had a standout game as well. However, our award goes to Bok prop Tendai Mtawarira - his scrumming started the rot, from the very first set piece, and he continued in the same destructive mode, not to mention his tackle count.

Moment of the match: You can look at any of the five tries, but the most crucial moment was the first scrum of the match - when Tendai Mtawarira shoved Phil Vickery backwards at a rate of knots. That set the tone for a very impressive first half and in the end the win.

Villain of the match: There was nothing untoward in a thoroughly entertaining game.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries: Smit, Brussow
Cons: Pienaar 2
Pens: Pienaar 3, F Steyn

For the British and Irish Lions:
Tries: Croft 2, Phillips
Cons: S Jones 3

Teams:

South Africa: 15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8. Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (captain), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Gurthro Steenkamp, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Jaque Fourie, 22 Morne Steyn

British & Irish Lions: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Paul O'Connell (captain), 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Adam Jones, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Martyn Williams, 20 Harry Ellis, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Rob Kearney.

Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Stuart Dickinson, Vinny Munro (New Zealand)
TMO: Christophe Berdos (France)