The British and Irish Lions flew to Durban on Saturday night - relieved their 100% South Africa tour record remains intact.

The tourists were given a major fright by Super 14 strugglers the Cheetahs, before escaping from Vodacom Park with a 26-24 success.

"We got ourselves into a good position and didn't develop it as we could have done," admitted Lions head coach Ian McGeechan. "The breakdowns became a bit of a lottery and took a lot of momentum out of the game. We knew the games were going to get increasingly tougher, and I think it was a good challenge."

He added: "You can never under-estimate how important a win is to the squad.

"The start was very good, but it became stop-start after that, which disappointed us. I don't think the ball in play time was very high."

McGeechan praised the contribution of Wales fly-half James Hook, whose 16 points ultimately made the difference between victory and defeat.

"In all three games our goalkickers have been significant," he said.

"I thought the half-backs played well and gave us a chance to play in the right areas."