Shaun Edwards has urged the British and Irish Lions to "put a marker down" in Wednesday night's second South Africa tour game.

Super 14 side the Golden Lions await at Ellis Park, the venue for next month's third Test against the world champion Springboks and - after a misfiring start to the 10-match trip when they belatedly subdued the Royal XV in Rustenburg - the Lions know they cannot afford a repeat performance.

"We can't go into this game with any excuses," said Lions assistant coach and defence specialist Edwards. "We need to put a marker down and play for the full 80 minutes."

He added: "I thought in the last 20 minutes on Saturday we played very well and showed a lot of spirit but we need to do that for 80 minutes. To have any chance against the Springboks, you can't have any lapses."

Edwards would have winced at the defensive errors that contributed towards an unheralded Royal XV, drawn from second-tier South African rugby, scoring three tries.

And the former Great Britain rugby league star revealed he had received some gentle encouragement from the South African public.

"A few South African people have asked what I do with the Lions," he added. "I said I am the defence coach and a few of them wished me good luck, adding that I might need it, which does add a little bit more motivation.

"If you can't handle the pressure, you shouldn't put yourself up for the job. I am well aware of the expectation.

"We had put a lot of work into last Saturday and the first half went a bit pear-shaped, as the saying goes.

"We've worked pretty hard on certain aspects of our defence and we need to be on the money on Wednesday night."