The 2006 tournament was relatively stress-free for the 48-year-old Geordie. The short haul meant thousands of supporters were able to make last-minute trips to Germany and they discovered excellent transport, plentiful accommodation and sympathetic policing when they arrived.

More than 150,000 England fans travelled out in total, dwarfing the support of just about every other nation, and things went so well that they were named fans of the tournament by Fifa.

Although Miles, the international co-ordinator of the FSF, believes this can be a World Cup to remember for England fans, he still has three nagging worries about the tournament.

Number one is accommodation.

Although 25 new hotels have been built especially for the tournament and Fifa has contracted non-graded rooms for the first time - including University halls of residence in Pretoria, cruise liners in Port Elizabeth and safari park lodges near Polokwane - there are fears of a shortage of rooms for the 500,000 fans expected to arrive from around the world in South Africa next summer.

Fifa has even gone so far as to include Mauritius, which is a four-hour flight from South Africa, in its acommodation programme and will place some of its sponsors there.

Furthermore, the rooms which are available are likely to be expensive. Fans' first port of call when booking a room is likely to be Match, the Zurich-based company that Fifa has contracted to organise accommodation and ticketing for the 2010 World Cup.

The company has hired 80% of the graded rooms in South Africa and 13% of the non-graded ones for the duration of the tournament.

The new Cape Town stadium with Table Mountain in the background

Match has based its prices on "rack rates" - the price you would pay if you turned up and asked for a room for the night - already given to them by these hotels and guesthouses.

Fifa argues this is the best way of preventing prices being inflated close the World Cup, yet there is no proof that the rates supplied were accurate.

Fans might also be interested to know that Match will take a hefty 30% commission for each booking it organises.

The alternative is for fans to try and book rooms direct from hotels or another broker yet the truth is that this is unlikely to be any cheaper.

There are even suggestions that hotel prices could go up by as much as 300% next summer, which is why Miles is imploring South African hotels to be reasonable.

"It would be short-sighted to regard the World Cup as a four-week opportunity to take advantage of foreign tourists," he told me.

"It's far better to create an impression that will encourage people to return to the country in years to come. That's what happened with Germany - there was a big hike in tourism after 2006."

Camping, which was so popular with fans at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, will be out of the question this time, as temperatures often drop below zero in places like Johannesburg during the South African winter.

Miles' second worry is about internal transport within the country. South Africa is five times bigger than England and the teams at the World Cup will have to travel vast distances to play their matches.

In Group G one of the teams faces having to play a game in Johannesburg, followed by one in Cape Town, which is a distance of 880 miles or the equivalent of London to Warsaw.

That would take 17 hours to drive, while Miles warns that "flights will be in short supply and expensive".

Getting to and from the stadiums at last summer's Confederations Cup also proved something of a problem.

Miles admits: "There were teething problems with the shuttle buses from the park and rides and fans won't be able to rely on taxis in the way they did in Germany."

His third concern is, predictably, crime, which has been a major topic of conversation ever since South Africa was awarded the World Cup in 2004.

Everyone knows the country has a crime problem. Violent business robberies climbed 41.5% from April 2008 to March 2009, house robberies were up 27.3%, while there were 15,000 recorded carjackings and 18,148 murders last year.

Jill Morris, a consular official for the Foreign Office, put the issue into some perspective when I spoke to her at the launch of the 2010 fans' website last Tuesday though.

"There were 450,000 British visitors to South Africa last year," she told me. "Of those, we had to give assistance in about 1,000 cases. The vast majority of these cases involved nothing more serious than lost passports, with only 139 involving a mixture of arrest, detention and victims of crime."

And World Cup ambassador Gary Mabbutt emphasised the vast resources that are being pumped into policing the tournament.

About 41,000 police have been trained specially for the World Cup, boosting total numbers to 183,000, and a further 120,000 reservists are available if needed.

The police arsenal includes 200 revamped armoured vehicles, 100 high-performance cars for road security, 40 helicopters, and mobile command vehicles.

Miles has already had a series of discussions with the South African police and is hopefuly that the tournament will be policed sensitively, despite recent talk in the country of a zero tolerance approach to troublemakers.

"The South African police have had some training from the German authorities and there is an awareness they will be on display to the world next summer," Miles says.

His advice to travelling fans is to use their common sense by travelling in groups, planning their routes carefully and taking advice from hotel staff about where is and is not safe to go.

A couple of other issues are also worth mentioning. It's crucial for fans to arrange medical insurance before they travel out to South Africa, or else they could be at risk of a bill of up to £25,000 if they fall ill or suffer an accident.

And the usual advice about avoiding unprotected sex is particularly pertinent in a country with the highest rate of HIV in the world, where just under 12% of the 48m population are believed to carry the disease, according to the 2007 UNAIDS report.

Perhaps the final word should go to Mabbutt though, the highly respected former Tottenham and England defender who has worked closely with the organisers of the 2010 World Cup for the last eight years.

He is eager for fans to focus on the positives about the 2010 World Cup. After all, this is an opportunity for them to sample a World Cup on African soil for the first time.

"Fans have the opportunity to combine the world's best football with some of its best sights and experiences next summer," he told me.

"This is an opportunity for South Africa to showcase itself as one of the most beautiful, vibrant and diverse countries in the world. The country is desperate to do that and vast sums have been pumped into new stadiums, infrastructure and security.

"As long as fans plan their trips in advance I am sure they will have a World Cup to remember."

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He's been busy rejigging them in recent weeks, following injuries to a dozen players in Martin Johnson's senior squad.

Next month's autumn internationals, against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand, will be the benchmark of the progress Andrew has made since becoming England's first director of elite rugby three years ago.

His remit then was to "develop young rugby talent through the elite player pathway".

And with so many leading players out injured, we are about to find out whether or not he has succeeded. The former England fly-half accepts that now is the time to judge the progress he has made.

"At my interview for the job I said it would take three years to shape where we needed to go," he told me when I visited his Twickenham HQ a few weeks ago.

"We've now got two years' worth of graduates from the Under-20s and a couple of them are coming into the Saxons and even the senior squad."

Courtney Lawes is the most notable of these players. The Northampton forward has been rocketed from the Under-20s into Johnson's squad in the space of only a few months.

Yet Andrew still seems to have a lot of critics to win over. Google "what does Rob Andrew do?" and you get more than 1,000 responses.

Perhaps it's because his position has never existed before, or because people are suspicious of a well-known figure deemed to be lurking in the shadows behind the England coach.

Andrew insists his job is to support the England coach and take a strategic view of the whole of elite rugby, much like a director of football would do at a Premier League club.

He suggests he inherited a broken system in 2006, where the England team "existed in isolation" and there was "no joined-up thinking about what came after 2003".

So Andrew has created an "elite pathway", which starts with the academies and runs through the Under-18s to the Under-20 side, the Saxons and ultimately the full England team.

The Under-18s are unbeaten since 2007 and the Under-20s have reached the last two World Cup finals, which they lost on each occasion to New Zealand.

Andrew won 71 caps for England, winning the Grand Slam in 1991, 1992 and 1995

"We are closing the gap on New Zealand and have caught South Africa and Australia at age-grade level," argues Andrew, who looks as lithe and youthful as he did in his playing days.

The big test now will be whether the graduates of the junior teams can make the grade in Johnson's side. Andrew's other major objective has been to mend the RFU's broken relationship with the Guinness Premiership clubs.

In the middle of our interview, Andrew got up, unlocked a cupboard and pulled out a bulky A4 document.

It was the eight-year agreement between the clubs and union, signed in November 2007.
It outlines a system under which the clubs are compensated for agreeing to allow the RFU to manage England's elite players.

"This took a great deal of time and a lot of money to put together," Andrew says. "We needed to have a better relationship with the Premiership, because that is fundamental to England's future success.

"I actually think our relationship is very strong now. It's not perfect, but there has been a realisation that we need to work together."

So far, so good. But Andrew's nadir came last spring, when he was almost universally criticised for his handling of Brian Ashton's sacking as England coach.

Just weeks after giving Ashton a vote of confidence, Andrew had pulled the trigger on the likeable Lancastrian. Worst of all, it seemed everyone knew what was happening to Ashton other than the man himself, thanks to a series of leaks from the RFU.

The former Newcastle director of rugby adjusts his rimless glasses as he thinks back to last March and admits it was a "difficult, unsettling period".

Yet he insists he would not do anything differently if the situation arose again.

"It was a rescue job in 2007 and Brian was exactly the right man for picking up the pieces at that particular time," he says.

"But in the end, it was about trying to build something for the longer term and getting the right guy in, which was Martin. Unfortunately, one of the problems of dealing with high-profile personnel changes in sport is that you can't do it quietly."

How is his relationship with Ashton now?

"Of course he was disappointed, but that's the same in any walk of life when you make changes. It was tough, but we got over it."

Andrew also adds that Ashton did some consultancy work for the elite department last year. When the RFU's elite director was copping flak from all sides last March, Sir Clive Woodward waded in by questioning Andrew's credentials and suggesting his relationship with Johnson would be "a forced marriage".

Yet Andrew shrugs off Woodward's criticism - it's worth noting that the World Cup-winning coach was passed over for the elite director job - and insists he has a strong working relationship with Johnson.

The 46-year-old, a Cambridge Blue at both rugby and cricket, speaks enthusiastically about Johnson's first 18 months in the England hotseat and believes the side have "moved a long way from a difficult start" under him.

"Martin is very clear on what he wants to do, but he also listens to people," Andrew says.
"He's been there and done it at the very highest level, is a quick learner and knows what is required to be successful."

Now comes the big test against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand - all of whom are higher in the world rankings than England - at Twickenham next month.

The games will tell us a lot about Johnson's evolving team, and also about the progress Andrew has made behind the scenes at Twickenham.

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The Swedish Football Association are keen to speak to Eriksson about replacing Lars Lagerback as their national coach.

Their president, Lars-Ake Lagrell, is a long-time friend and admirer of the former England manager and says he will sound Eriksson out about the job this week.

What's more, Eriksson has always said he would love to manage his home country. I have spoken to a close ally of the Swede's today, who says this is still very much the case.

So things aren't looking good for Notts County. How badly damaged would they be by the departure of their high-profile director of football?

After all, Eriksson was appointed by County's new owners, Munto Finance, to bring instant kudos and credibility to the League Two outfit.

His recruitment in July ensured that the national spotlight was firmly focused on the previously unfashionable club - and it has been on them ever since.

The exit of Sol Campbell last month after only one match was an embarrassing setback for the club, yet many placed the blame on the former England defender.

The departure of Eriksson, the public face of the new regime, would be a different story altogether and would be sure to cast fresh doubt on County's mystery owners and their plans for the club.

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Ian McGeechan was hardly offering a "come and get me" plea to Harlequins, but he wasn't dismissing the prospect of becoming their new director of rugby either.

After several bleak months dominated by the Bloodgate saga, this is a small ray of light for fans of the London club.

McGeechan insisted Quins had not been in touch with him but added tantalisingly "if it comes up you look at it".

It's easy to understand why Quins might be keen to land the Scot. How better to recover some respect and credibility after the damage of Bloodgate?

Not only is McGeechan one of the most successful coaches in the history of the British game, he also represents its best values.

Here is a man who took long unpaid sabbaticals to coach both Scotland and the 1989 Lions, leaving him struggling to pay the mortgage.

And one who didn't think twice about quitting a job he enjoyed when an over-zealous headmaster left him with a straight choice between teaching and rugby in 1990.

"I just think rugby is the best team game there is," he says. "When I first played the game it started a love affair that has lasted 50 years."

McGeechan also seems to be universally liked and admired. When I asked former England captain Will Carling what he thought about the panning he receives in the Scot's recently-released autobiography, "Lion man", he simply said: "I'm a big fan of his, I'll have to take a look."

The book offers a fascinating insight into the character and methods of the legendary coach. His modest, understated manner was probably inherited from his father, who died from lung cancer at the age of just 48.

One of McGeechan's biggest regrets is that his father never saw him play for Scotland. This makes the story of his first cap, against New Zealand at Murrayfield in 1972, particularly poignant.

Shortly before kick off, the band major approached him and told him he had been brought up with his father, Bob, and fought alongside him in the Second World War.

"He told me he regarded him as a terrific man," McGeechan remembers. "Emotionally it hit me with tremendous force and nothing that happened in the game could have been quite so emotional."

McGeechan is an emotional man, as anyone who has watched the official 2009 Lions DVD will know. The documentary shows him breaking down in tears as he addresses his players before the third Test in Johannesburg.

"Emotion is crucial - you have to love what you're doing and hate losing," McGeechan says. "It's got to be emotive, it can't be pure science."

His approach is in stark contrast to that of Sir Clive Woodward, who McGeechan worked under on the 2005 Lions tour of New Zealand.

"He (Woodward) was always splendidly efficient and clever but perhaps not as emotional as some of us," McGeechan remembers. "He lacked the personal touch. It was all a bit clinical, even antiseptic."

McGeechan's softly-spoken manner belies a fiercely competitive spirit, though, which he has always tried to transfer to his teams.

He believes this is a legacy of his time as a player, when he had to compensate for a lack of size with bravery and aggression.

"If you are smaller, people generally see that as an easy route," he says. "If I could break ribs legally, by hitting them hard enough, I would do it."

Sometimes his teams have transgressed from competitiveness to the edge of legality though. Perhaps the strongest example of this came in the second Test between the Lions and Australia in 1989, which is now widely known as the "Battle of Ballymore".

Having lost the first Test rather tamely, McGeechan instructed his players to stand toe to toe with their counterparts. The result was a fired-up Rob Jones stepping on Nick Farr-Jones' foot in the opening minutes, provoking the first of several mass brawls.

A rather shocking picture of Farr-Jones' bloodied, battered and bruised face is included in McGeechan's autobiography, serving as testimony for quite how brutal the match was.

"I blame myself for 1989. I over-motivated Rob and he probably went too far," he says. "We had the same approach in 1997 but were probably smarter and more structured in the way we went about it."

The central plank of McGeechan's coaching philosophy, which he emphasises time and time again, is the importance of the team.

"I have always worked hard on trying to get the character and chemistry of a group right," he explains. "I am always thinking: 'Will they work together under pressure? Will they stick together? Will they enjoy each others' company?

"When you get that right, you generally end up with very strong performances on the field."

This is why the 2009 Lions were able to exceed expectations and come so close against South Africa this summer, McGeechan believes.

McGeechan and team-mate Dick Millicken on the 1974 Lions tour of South Africa

It also explains why McGeechan struggled to empathise with Carling, who never seemed to come to terms with the concept of the Lions.

The England skipper pulled out of the 1989 tour through injury, although there could have been an element of "taking his bat home" after Finlay Calder was named captain, McGeechan suspects.

He was almost sent home from New Zealand in 1993 because of his poor attitude and then in 1997 he withdrew from consideration, "therefore becoming the only player I can ever remember opting out of a Lions tour, a sad decision," says McGeechan.

The Scot also implores James Haskell - who he worked with at Wasps and who now plays for Stade Francais - to remember the message that the team is key. You suspect that McGeechan has little time for show boaters.

"I feel that James has been badly advised, particularly with the idea being put around when he was negotiating that there was such a thing as 'Brand Haskell'," McGeechan writes in the book.

"There is James Haskell the rugby player...the brands are Wasps and England."

He also urges fly-half Danny Cipriani to focus fully on his rugby. "Danny faces the challenge of being the best player he can be and putting everything else to one side," he says.

"He is seen in some areas as a playboy, but that would be unfair, because he is supremely dedicated when he has his rugby head on."

What now for McGeechan himself?

The Scot has enjoyed his brief break from rugby following the Lions tour, writing his book, doing some corporate work and leading his daughter down the aisle.

He will work as an adviser for the Lions in 2013, but this will be the extent of his involvement and he doesn't even know if he will work as a coach or director of rugby again.

Whatever happens, his love affair with the game is sure to continue though.

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After four weeks of investigations, the Rugby Football Union's Image of the Game Task Force declared that cheating was "neither endemic nor systemic" in the sport.

At the end of a summer when the 'Bloodgate' and Bath sagas have tarnished rugby's reputation, the RFU believes it is now ready to move on.

Owen said the task force was confronted with a lot of "speculation, rumour and hearsay" during the investigation, but very few concrete examples of cheating.

The RFU is hoping to finally draw a line under Bloodgate with the Task Force report

For example, Dean Richards, the self-confessed architect of 'Bloodgate', told Owen that one of his Quins players had alleged the faking of a blood injury when he played for England.

"But we spoke to that player and he denied it," Owen said.

RFU chief executive Francis Barron boasted about how "robust and comprehensive" the bulky report is.

"This is the first time any rugby body has attempted to get to the bottom of these allegations," he said.

"If you read the report, you would have to agree that the conclusion we have come to is spot on - that there is no widespread cheating at any level of the game."

So is the RFU right to be so confident? Has this document restored the image and reputation of English rugby?

Well, as ever, it probably depends how you interpret the statistics.

The basis of the report was an anonymous, confidential online questionnaire given to professional players, coaches and medical staff and their amateur counterparts.

I was surprised that only 23% of professional players had bothered to return the questionnaire, which would have taken no longer than 10 minutes to complete.

They had even been sent three reminders to do so by their union, the Professional Rugby Players' Association.

After all, the reputation of their sport and their profession was at stake.

Task force member David Barnes, chairman of the PRA, denied that the report had been undermined and insisted his members had nothing to hide.

"They (the players) had a very short time to put this together and players want to concentrate on winning," he said

"I am happier with 23% coming forward, rather than making people write responses that could be false."

Owen agreed, saying: "We weren't disappointed with the response from the professional game, we were really quite pleased.

"It isn't the quantity but the quality of the responses that counts. And 80% of the responses (102 of 129) were from players who had played representative rugby."

In contrast, there were 4,524 responses from the grassroots game, yet this was never really the area where we were worried about the faking of blood injuries.

Furthermore, the conclusions you can draw from the questionnaire results depend on interpretation.

For example, 10% of players admitted to having seen or participated in the faking of blood injuries in Premiership and European matches.

Of those, 4% said it had happened rarely and 8% very rarely, but still the figure seems high.

And a whopping 41% said they had seen or participated in the feigning of injuries leading to uncontested scrums.

Only 5% said this had happened very often and 15% often, but again, this seems shockingly high.

The task force believes new rules requiring eight replacements per game will negate this problem.

They have also recommended a trial for the use of rolling subs, like in rugby league, to tackle the feigning of injuries in general.

This was probably the most interesting of the 16 recommendations made by the Task Force.

Lawrence Dallaglio was no stranger to referees during his illustrious playing career

A fairly dry presentation was enlivened when one journalist had the temerity to suggest that task force member Lawrence Dallaglio had cheated during his career.

The imposing former Wasps and England player took great umbrage at this, insisting he had often stretched the rules, but never broken them.

He then said that the report, allied with the core values proposals unveiled by the RFU last week, would help to restore the reputation of his sport.

Do you share his confidence?

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That's why coach Fabio Capello has been so exacting in choosing the base for his team.

The Italian wants a private and secure hotel that boasts excellent training facilities and is based at altitude.

After looking at sites in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Polokwane, attention has focused on the Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus in Rustenburg.

Before signing a contract, the Football Association understandably wants to secure guarantees that the complex, which is still under construction, will include all the facilities it needs.

They might not want to hang around too long though, because the big teams are already securing their bases for the World Cup.

Holland have informed the local organising committee they want to stay in Sandton, the plush business district of Johannesburg.

Brazil are keen on Bloemfontein, where they stayed during their victorious Confederations Cup campaign, while the hosts are leaning toward the Parktown area of Johannesburg.

The Rustenburg site is sure to be coveted and Refilwe Mushi, a spokesperson for the Royal Bafokeng Nation, which owns the complex, admits: "We are in negotiations with a number of teams, including England."

The Sports Campus is the highest of the World Cup bases, perched at 3,800 feet above sea level, which is crucial.

Most of the matches, including the final at Soccer City in Johannesburg, will be played at altitude and teams that aren't acclimatised to the lung-busting effects of the Highveld will be at a major disadvantage.

Rustenburg, which is nestled at the foothills of the Magaliesberg Mountains in north-west South Africa, is a fairly quiet town, according to the travel guides, yet Sun City - South Africa's answer to Las Vegas - the Pilanesberg game reserve and some outstanding golf courses are within a short drive if England end up there and Capello allows his players any day trips.

Rustenburg does not boast the same choice of shops as Baden Baden

Travel to the matches should also be straightforward, with Pilanesberg airport only 30 minutes drive away.

But the biggest attraction of all for Capello was the fact the site is still under construction, allowing him to have the £20m complex built to his personal specifications.

Reports in South Africa claim he has already asked for plasma televisions bringing in British channels in each of the rooms, an electric security fence around the perimeter of the site and superb training facilities with manicured pitches.

Former Spurs and England defender Gary Mabbutt, who is advising the organising committee on their World Cup team bases, says such requirements are not unusual.

"Most teams want single rooms for their players kitted out with wi-fi, plasma TV, satellite and Playstations," he told me.

"Remember that the teams are going to have one base throughout the World Cup and that their players will be spending a lot of time in them.

"They will probably also have a games room, where you have things like a pool table and table tennis. It's also a requirement that training facilities must be either on site or within a 15-minute drive of the team hotel."

Mabbutt spoke to the late Sir Bobby Robson and former Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann to establish the factors that added up to a perfect team base.

A lot of teams will want to stay at the Bafokeng complex, but then a lot of towns will be keen to host England, who are expected to bring 60,000 fans with them to South Africa.

Gary Benham, head of communications for the British High Commission in South Africa, told me: "South African towns and cities are keen to host the big teams, and they don't come much bigger than England."

Tourist numbers in Baden Baden were estimated to have risen eight-fold when England stayed there during the 2006 World Cup in Germany, so hosting Capello's men would provide a massive boost to Rustenburg's economy.

The town is part of the Royal Bafokeng Nation, which is ruled by King Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi, the leader of Africa's richest tribe.

The Bafokeng's wealth is thanks to the luck of their territory straddling some of the world's most valuable deposits of platinum, allied to the foresight of their predecessors in acquiring legal title to the land in the 19th century.

King Kgosi Leruo is eager to diversify away from mining though, and recently unveiled Vision 2020, his plan for how to do so.

Sport is intended to play a major role. The Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg is home to the Platinum Stars team and will host group games and a second round match at the World Cup.

Providing a home for the England team would be another major boost for both the town and its people.

So Rustenburg will hope it can persuade the uncompromising Capello it can provide the perfect base from which to launch his World Cup bid.

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The back row legend is now part of the club's commercial department, having hung up his boots last season.

And in common with most other officials at Vicarage Road, Hill gets tetchy when you ask him about the growing South African influence at a club he served with such distinction as a player.

"If I didn't agree with the strategy the club has, I wouldn't be part of it," he says firmly.

It's hardly surprising that people talk about a "South African takeover" at Saracens though.

The club's majority shareholder is billionaire Johann Rupert - the man behind the Mont Blanc, Dunhill and Cartier brands - who bought a 50% stake from Nigel Wray last January.

Four years ago, the South African tried to buy Division Two side Wakefield. His plan was to staff the club mainly with his countrymen and to change their name to "London Tribe", but the takeover was blocked by the Rugby Football Union.

So there has inevitably been speculation that Rupert is trying to do the same thing with Saracens, only by different means.

These rumours intensified earlier this year, when the club announced that former Springbok Brendan Venter was to take over from Australian Eddie Jones as their coach.

Venter has appointed former Boks team-mate Cobus Visagie as one of his assistants, while seven of the 13 players he has signed are South African, taking the total number in the squad to 11.

Add in the fact that Sarries are negotiating to face the Springboks in London on 17 November and that their new shirt sponsor is Johannesburg-based USN and you get a distinctly South African flavour at the club, no matter what officials there may say to the contrary.

The club's open and articulate chief executive Edward Griffiths - who was South Africa's press officer when they won the 1995 World Cup - insists "the nature and character of the club remains" though.

First of all, he points out that Rupert does not own the club and that Britons Wray (20%), Nick Leslau (20%) and Dominic Silvester (10%) hold the rest of the shares.

He also insists it is only natural that Venter should sign a number of South African players, as well as an Italian, Fijian, Welshman and several Englishmen.

"Brendan has signed players from a market he knows well, where he can get good value. What's so bad about that? Arsene Wenger, for example, has done exactly the same thing by signing a number of French players at Arsenal."

Chief executive Edward Griffiths has ambitious plans for the club

He also points to Saracens' excellent academy, which is turning out a crop of promising young English players, such as Jackson Wray, Will Fraser, Jamie George and Noah Cato, who are being mentored by Hill in his second role with the club.

Griffiths admits, unashamedly, that Saracens are trying to attract London's ex-pat community of South Africans, many of whom are passionate about rugby but do not follow an English club.

"Saracens have made substantial losses over the last decade and we want to attract an audience far beyond our core support," Griffiths says.

"There are half a million South Africans in London so, of course, we are trying to bring them to Vicarage Road.

"Don't you think other clubs, like Harlequins, London Irish and Wasps, are trying to do the same thing?"

And the club seems to be having considerable success in expanding its supporter base.

Saracens have already sold 30% more season tickets than at the same stage last season and 25,000 tickets have been sold for their Wembley match against Northampton on 12 September.

Griffiths believes the total crowd for the game will be at least 40,000, doubling the previous record for a Saracens' "home" game, and there are plans for a second match at Wembley this season.

The match will be preceded by a performance from Britain's Got Talent winners Diversity and tickets for adults cost only £10.

On Saturday, Saracens kick off their league campaign against London Irish in the first leg of the annual "double header" at Twickenham.

It all adds to the impression of a club that's going places. But what do the fans think about the way they are getting there?

South Africa international Schalk Brits is Sarries' "marquee signing"

Stuart Jones, chairman of the newly-formed Saracens supporters' association, says he "doesn't have a problem with the South African influence, as long as the team produces success" and adds that he has been impressed with the "energy and ideas" of Venter and Griffiths.

And what about the possibility of the club moving from Vicarage Road, which has been home since 1997, when they moved from Enfield?

The club has carried out research into the location of the South African population in the London area, discovering - somewhat unsurprisingly - that most are located in a strip running from Wimbledon to Shepherds Bush.

The club's contract to use Vicarage Road runs out at the end of the season, although they must give 12 months notice if they want to move, meaning a switch would take place in time for the 2011/12 season at the earliest.

Griffiths insists Sarries are keen to stay, although there are persistent rumours of a possible move to west London.

Jones admits: "I think there is an emotional attachment to Vicarage Road - it's been home since the start of the professional era, it's where Kris Chesney (Saracens' record appearance maker, who left at the end of last season) played his last game for the club and we won most of our home games there last season."

But he concedes: "If we moved we would lose some fans and gain others, just like Wasps did when they moved to High Wycombe and London Irish when they went to Reading."

What is beyond doubt is that these are eventful times for Sarries and perhaps the last word on their new era should go to Hill, who has been at the club for 16 years, experiencing both amateurism and the "Wray revolution", when the former owner signed foreign stars such as Francois Pienaar and Michael Lynagh.

"This is definitely an exciting period for the club," Hill says. "We have some excellent players here and I would just urge people to have faith in what the new owners are trying to do."

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The full 38-page transcript of last week's appeals hearing has now been published and it will make uncomfortable reading for even Richards' staunchest supporters.

Tom Williams' no-holds barred testimony portrays a bullying, dictatorial director of rugby who masterminded the faking of the winger's blood injury and the subsequent cover-up.

Harlequins chief executive Mark Evans is also badly damaged by the winger's evidence.

When I attended Harlequins' pre-season press day last week, Evans attempted to draw a line under the events of last April, suggesting he had supported the player in his appeal as soon as he was made aware of what had happened.

The 25-year-old player contradicts this, claiming that Evans put immense pressure on him not to give "full disclosure" about what had happened in the closing minutes of the Heineken Cup quarter-final.

This means Evans' position at the club will now come under intense scrutiny.

It is quite clear who Williams believes is the real villain of the piece though, portraying Richards as a dominant, feared figure at The Stoop. "There was no doubt that he was the boss and that he ran the show," Williams told last week's appeal committee in Dublin.

"He did not discuss his decisions with me. He gave directions and these were followed. I did not feel able to challenge his authority - I do not think that I have ever seen another player challenge Dean's authority."

To illustrate this, he recalls how Richards criticised "my going down injured during play and ordered me to attend a camp with the Harlequins rugby league side to harden me up" following a League One match against Plymouth.

Richards denied this story at the hearing, as well as disputing telling the player he was on the fringes of the England squad following an impressive 2008/9 season.

Williams argues it was this fear of Richards that meant he went along with the fake blood scam.

"In hindsight, if I had refused to bite the capsule Dean would have seen that I had disobeyed him and might refuse to play me again," he says. "This could have spelled the end of my career at Harlequins."

Williams recalls the incident, explaining: "With 10 minutes left and the score standing at 6-5 to Leinster... Dean told me to tell Steph Brennan that I would be coming off for blood.

"I understood from what Dean said that I would be coming off at some point before the end of the match with a fake injury, but I had no idea how this would work."

Brennan and Richards disputed this, saying the decision to use the capsule was actually made after the player had entered the fray - and the appeals panel believed their version of events.

Brennan admitted he had faked injuries on four previous occasions, at the direction of Richards, although the former England forward said he could only remember two or three times when this had happened.

Intriguingly, we are told that Brennan had a capsule in his bag "having purchased a quantity... from a joke shop at Clapham Junction (a London train station) on the direction of Dean Richards for use... in faking blood injuries during matches."

Williams remembers Brennan saying something "along the lines of 'do the right thing'" as he handed him the capsule and admits he was faced with a huge dilemma at this moment.

He also explains the infamous wink he gave team-mate as he left the pitch, explaining it was intended to reassure Jim Evans, who had urged him to stay on the pitch and "tough it out".

Williams' testimony vividly recounts the panic in the dressing room at the end of the match, as the fifth official checked whether the blood coming from the player's mouth was real, while angry Leinster officials banged on the door demanding to see him.

This is when Williams says his mouth was cut with a scalpel by club doctor Wendy Chapman - at his request - to make it appear like he had suffered a real injury.

The player defends Chapman's actions, insisting she "was as much a victim in these matters as me", because of the extreme stress she was under.

Indeed, Williams reveals that Chapman vehemently urged him not to disclose the incident at his appeal, fearing the "potential damage to her career", but that he decided he must come clean about everything that had happened.

The evidence about the behaviour of Richards and Quins in the days and weeks after the match is arguably as damning as Williams' testimony about the actual incident.

He says he was left with no choice but to sign a statement drafted by Richards and was not offered independent legal advice. "I basically did what I was told by Dean", he says.

Then Richards told him he must not tell the lawyers "what had really happened", while the club also urged him against full disclosure.

Williams says Evans explained this could lead to the club being expelled from the Heineken Cup, losing sponsors and Chapman and Brennan being struck off by the club and then suing Quins.

"I understand that Mark then said this would be my responsibility, that I would be regarded by others as the person responsible and that it would be extremely difficult for me at the club should I choose this course of action."

Eventually, club and player reached a compromise agreement, whereby he would make a "partial disclosure" in exchange for a new four-year contract, extra holidays and an apology from Harlequins.

Williams hardly emerges from this part of the episode as an angel. After all, he admits he unsuccessfully pushed the club to pay off his mortgage in exchange for withholding the truth.

There was then an about-turn by the club on 8 August, when chairman Charles Jillings called Williams to tell him Richards had resigned and that the club would now fully support him in "full disclosure".

That wasn't an end to the matter though, as we know, and these latest damaging revelations ensure Bloodgate will rumble on.

Richards and Evans might have attempted to draw a line under the affair last week, but the publication of Williams' revelations means they are unlikely to be afforded that luxury.

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Richards, one of the legends of English rugby, was banned from coaching for three years after accepting responsibility for Tom Williams' fake blood injury against Leinster in April.

Former England team-mate Will Carling said Richards was taking the rap for a problem that is rife in the game.

"I am slightly shocked by the hysteria, because people think this is new and has never happened before," Carling told the BBC.

It's hard to believe this was the first time a team had faked a blood injury to abuse IRB law 3.12, which allows a substitute to replace a player with "a bleeding or open wound".

Eight years ago, former Harlequins director of rugby Dick Best warned: "They (blood capsules) are in common use in the Premiership. I believe they are the same as you'd find on the set of any film with stunt scenes."

His allegations were backed up by Nigel Melville, then director of rugby at Wasps, and Australia's World Cup-winning coach Bob Dwyer.

In his autobiography, Lawrence Dallaglio described how Bath had once used tomato ketchup to get John Callard back onto the field for a conversion attempt against Wasps, while Richard Cockerill revealed in his book "In Your Face" that stitches on his finger had been opened up by England's backroom staff "to take me off for 'blood' just in case it was necessary to bring me back on".

So Best is surprised nothing has been done to stop teams faking blood injuries, adding: "It is still pretty common practice within the game, I understand".

Privately, senior figures at Harlequins argue the problem is "widespread" within the English game and chief executive Mark Evans alluded to abuse of the rules in an open letter to the club's fans last week.

"Some of you will feel that manipulation of the substitution, uncontested scrums and sin binning rules are so widespread in the game that this case has been blown out of all proportion," he wrote.

Yet any sympathy for the plight of either Quins or Richards dissipates when you consider the way they tried to cover up the incident.

In his witness statement to Monday's appeal hearing, Williams revealed his mouth
had been cut with a scalpel to make it look like he had suffered an injury.

In his club blog, Quins and England scrum-half Danny Care then wrote: "I can assure you I saw a big cut in Tom's mouth which needed stitches after the match, so the suggestion the injury was faked is ludicrous."

Harlequins then failed to come clean at the initial disciplinary hearing in July, denying any allegations of foul play. And they were indignant about the £215,000 suspended fine they received, complaining: "We are both surprised and disappointed... the club will consider their position."

European Rugby Cup Ltd did not have sufficient evidence to penalise either Richards, physio Steph Brennan or doctor Wendy Chapman, so Williams was left to carry the can.

Sky footage - which had not been broadcast but was shown at the hearing - showed the 25-year-old taking a capsule out of his sock before bursting it in his mouth in the 75th minute of the Heineken Cup quarter-final.

Live match footage had also shown him leaving the pitch with a red liquid, which didn't look like blood, streaming from his mouth, before infamously winking to his replacement, the fly-half Nick Evans.

The ERC panel gave Williams a draconian 12-month penalty, even though they were sure he had not acted alone. This was a clever move, because it forced the winger to flush out his co-conspirators.

With the support and encouragement of the players' union, the Professional Rugby Players' Association, he appealed against his suspension and vowed to come clean about what had happened at The Stoop.

Richards quickly realised his position had become untenable and resigned on 8 August, while Harlequins were hastily forced into a change of approach. Suddenly they became contrite, pleading not to be thrown out of the Heineken Cup.

"We have got to accept that we have been found guilty of behaviour that cannot be accepted or condoned," Evans wrote to the Quins fans in his open letter. "For that we apologise to you unconditionally."

If Quins and Richards had come clean at the initial hearing, and revealed that their misdemeanour was part of a more institutional problem in the game, the penalties they received would have been more lenient. And their reputations might not have been damaged so much.

So what now for Richards? His ban from coaching in Europe has been extended to all competitions by the RFU.

There is speculation he might still be able to take up a director of rugby role, perhaps in France, because the ban refers only to "coaching". Anyone who has seen Richards at work will know that he doesn't do a lot of coaching, preferring instead taking an overseeing role at training.

The club itself felt the fine of £259,000 was "very significant" but they are privately relieved not to have been thrown out of the Heineken Cup, which they had estimated would have cost £1.5m, or 15% of their annual revenue.

And there is hope the whole episode could help eradicate some of the cheating that Best and Carling claim is so prevalent in the game. The RFU is planning to bring forward a meeting with the Premiership club owners, scheduled for September, to discuss how they should do this.

Then the English game might recover some of the credibility lost during "Bloodgate".

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This led some foreign observers to assume he was being booed by the predominantly black crowds at this summer's Confederations Cup, when in fact the complete opposite was the case.

The 6ft 6in central defender is a firm favourite with the fans of Bafana Bafana, who greet his every touch with loud cries of "Booooth!"

With the biggest season in South Africa's football history about to kick off, the 32-year-old is set to be the hosts' poster boy at next summer's World Cup, so expect to hear and see a lot more of him in the coming year.

His upbringing in the white middle-class village of Fish Hoek on the outskirts of Cape Town dictated that he shouldn't even play football, let alone become a professional.

"We only played rugby and cricket at my all-white boys' school and those sports were almost pushed down your throat," he tells me.

"To play football, I had to go to a local club after school. It had an open-door policy allowing blacks and whites to play together, which was probably against the law at that time.

"It meant that from the age of five I was playing alongside black and coloured kids, when my schoolmates would never have come into contact with them.

"I was lucky that my dad encouraged me to play football, because he had loved playing the game when he was a kid."

Within minutes of talking to Booth, you quickly realise what a fascinating character he is. Not only does he speak Russian, post a regular video diary from the South Africa camp on YouTube and have a wife who is a former super model, but he has forthright, controversial opinions.

It's a refreshing change from some of the anodyne utterances we are used to hearing from players in the English Premier League.

For example he strongly argues that sport is still divisive in South Africa, when it should be a unifying force.

"Football has been construed as a black sport here in South Africa and that means it hasn't got the money it deserves," he says.

"Rugby and cricket are seen as the white sports and they get the money and the sponsorship."

While these "white sports" are played on "manicured lawns", Booth says black schoolchildren play football on "dirt and scrubland".

Booth is urging the South African government to invest more in grassroots football and to stop school sports being played along racial lines.

He wants them to ensure that black children are able to play rugby and cricket, with their white counterparts being encouraged to try football.

So it's easy to see why the imposing centre-half has become such a hero for the supporters of both his club side, the Mamelodi Sundowns, and Bafana Bafana.

Despite his upbringing in a leafy middle-class area, the townships have become a big part of Booth's life.

His wife Sonia Bonneventia grew up in Soweto, the massive township on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

They met when Bonneventia, who finished second in the 2001 Miss South Africa contest, was babysitting for one of his team-mates and they now have two young sons together.

"Our backgrounds are like chalk and cheese," he admits. "Soweto is very different from my upbringing in the suburbs, but I absolutely love it there.

"We visit all the time because it's where my wife's family still live and I go there on nights out with my team-mates. The atmosphere and vibe is unique and I would advise any tourist to pay a visit."

Bonneventia gained a business and marketing degree after retiring as a model and Booth says: "She has the beauty AND the brains - I'm not quite sure what she sees in me!"

Booth gained a host of new admirers with his no-nonsense displays during the Confederations Cup, playing a key role in South Africa securing fourth place in the tournament.

He has been described as an old-fashioned centre-half, imperious in the air and tenacious in the tackle, and had hoped for an offer from an English Premier League side after the tournament.

After playing on loan for Wimbledon for half a season in 2001 - "not a happy time because the club was in turmoil over the move to Milton Keynes" - he had always dreamed of playing for one of the big teams in England.

Sadly, the anticipated approach never materialised and he is now focused on helping the Sundowns improve on their disappointing ninth-place finish last season.

Booth is also grateful for having had the chance to play for seven seasons in Russia, for FC Rostov and Krylya Sovetov, during an exotic career.

The Sundowns kick off their Premier League season against the Mpumalanga Black Aces at their home stadium in Atteridgeville near Pretoria on Saturday.

It promises to be an interesting season, not least because Booth's new coach is the brooding, charismatic Hristo Stoichkov.

What does he make of the former Barcelona and Bulgaria legend so far?

"He's a no-nonsense coach, which was badly needed for the discipline of the team," he says.

"But at the same time he comes across as a players' coach and so far has got on well with all the players. His will to win as a player definitely comes out in his management."

The Sundowns are often described as the Chelsea of South Africa, thanks to the backing they receive from their wealthy benefactor, the platinum magnate Patrice Motsepe.
Despite being the most successful side in South Africa over the last 20 years, their form has been poor in recent times.

And difficult as it might be, Booth is determined to concentrate on each game this season, rather than looking over the horizon toward next summer's World Cup.

"A week is a long time in football, so a year is massive," he says. "That means I won't get too far ahead of myself, because otherwise I won't be in the World Cup squad, let alone the team.

"Playing in a World Cup in your home country would be the pinnacle for most players and it gives me such motivation."

If he can achieve that aim, be sure to hear loud cries of "Boooth" above the wail of the vuvuzelas in South Africa next summer.

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England and Japan are the recommended venues following an independent appraisal of the rival bids commissioned by Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL).

The International Rugby Board had hoped its 28-man Council would simply rubberstamp these choices in Dublin on Tuesday, avoiding some of the controversy and horse trading of previous years.

How wrong they were.

As I write this, delegates from the rival bids - South Africa are vying with England for 2015 and Italy with Japan for 2019 - are in Dublin desperately trying to persuade Council members to opt for them.

A senior source from the RFU told me he believed he had secured the 14 votes needed for victory but was "certainly not taking anything for granted".

South Africa's bid team, led in Dublin by Union president Oregan Hoskins and Springbok legend Morne du Plessis, argue they can deliver a far stronger World Cup than England though.

They are furious RWCL recommended England as hosts and have written a series of letters to the IRB complaining about the way the decision was reached.

When I was in South Africa earlier this month, members of their union were even privately threatening to sue the IRB if they were not awarded the 2015 World Cup.

Their anger centres on the fact they have a government guarantee for the £80m bond the IRB requires for hosting the tournament, whereas England have only £25m.

Bid chairman Mark Alexander told me: "We completed our tender process to the letter and not everyone else has done that.

"What is the best guarantee you can get? A government guarantee. With England, the balance of the £80m is provided by the RFU, which is a big risk."

The RFU counters that the government guarantee is immaterial, because they will be able to deliver the IRB's biggest-ever cash earner.

This assertion is backed by RWCL's independent analysis of the bids - conducted by consultants Deloitte, leading sports marketing firm IMG and lawyers Clifford Chance - which estimates that a World Cup in England could yield more than £300m, which is £60m more than they believe South Africa would make.

The RFU's conservative estimate of ticket sales for the tournament is 2.8 million, which would generate more than £100m.

This would give the union a profit of £20m, as the hosts are able to keep any cash from tickets over and above the £80m bond.

Financial concerns are crucial for the IRB, which gets at least 95% of its total revenue from World Cups. This is because, in the words of one IRB Council member I spoke to, the next World Cup in New Zealand in 2011 is expected to "be a financial disaster" which will lose £30m.

This makes it imperative that 2015 is a success, especially when the following World Cup has been earmarked for an "emerging" rugby nation.

Despite the analysis carried out by RWCL, South Africa question whether England will be able to generate greater commercial and broadcast revenue than them.

"We are in the same time zone as England, so kick-off times will be no different for the global television audience if the tournament is in South Africa," Alexander said.

"Also consider that the football World Cup in South Africa is projected to make $3.7bn in broadcast revenue, compared to $2.7bn from Germany in 2006."

He also argues that South Africa's venues - Loftus Versfeld, Ellis Park, Port Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela Bay, Green Point, Moses Mabhida and Kings Park - are "much stronger" than their English counterparts because they will be purely designated for World Cup use.

"We will give our stadiums to the IRB for the World Cup," he said, "that means advertising hoardings, boxes and everything."

Eight of England's venues - Elland Road in Leeds, Southampton's St Mary's, St James' Park in Newcastle, the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, Arsenal's Emirates, Liverpool's Anfield and Manchester United's Old Trafford - are football stadiums, with the Rugby World Cup taking place during the domestic football season.

A senior RFU official countered that this argument was "nonsense" as all the English stadiums were "clean" and would be available both five days before and two days after matches, as stipulated by the IRB.

Stadiums with sponsors' names in their titles will also be re-named for the purposes of the tournament, with the Emirates, for example, being known simply as "the Arsenal Stadium".

South Africa's bid was hardly helped by the number of empty seats at games during the recent Lions tour, with three of the four-man RWCL panel that recommended England as hosts - Bernard Lapasset, Syd Millar and Bill Beaumont - attending matches.

So the air is thick with acrimony and bad feeling in Dublin ahead of Tuesday's vote.
Nevertheless, one of the RFU's bid team told me: "This is rugby. No matter what the result, we will sit down with our opposite numbers afterwards and share a beer."

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The world champions had expected to receive accolades and congratulations after beating the tourists for the first time in 19 years.

Instead, the final week of the tour was dominated by discussions about eye gouging, suspensions and the bad luck of the Lions.

This, allied with a thumping 28-9 defeat, explained why skipper John Smit looked so glum as he fielded questions at the end of the third Test.

With the dust now settled on the series, it seems a good time to evaluate this Boks team.
Morne du Plessis - who faced the Lions as a player in 1974 and as captain in 1980 before managing the Springboks when they won the World Cup in 1995 - says this side should go down in history as one of South Africa's greatest.

"It's always dangerous to compare eras, but this is certainly one of the best Springbok teams of all time," Du Plessis told me.

"First of all, it is a magnificent achievement to add a winning Lions series to a World Cup win. I also think great teams are the ones who can pull something out of the bag when things aren't going their way. That's certainly what they have done in this series.

"The tide was turning against them in the first Test, but they regrouped and held on for victory. And for 74 minutes of the second Test, I just couldn't see them winning. Sheer will to win and individual brilliance pulled them through."

The Boks are also blessed with several world-class players capable of turning a game with a moment of brilliance, argues Du Plessis.

"The tries they have scored in the series have been excellent and they have so many players who can create something magical. Look at Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen, Jean de Villiers and Fourie du Preez, each of whom has been a match breaker against the Lions."

Although the Lions have argued they could have won the series, you could also make a case for saying the Boks should have won the first two Tests even more convincingly.

They were superb for the first hour in Durban, blowing the Lions away with a combination of pace, power and fierce intensity. Then coach Peter de Villiers made seven changes in the final 25 minutes - including captain Smit after 65 minutes, talisman Bakkies Botha after 57 and midfield fulcrum De Villiers after 57 - and the momentum swung the way of the Lions.

Only the reintroduction of Smit, with three minutes to go, settled South African nerves.
In the second Test in Pretoria, the sin binning of Schalk Burger after 30 seconds seemed to unsettle the world champions and the Lions took a decisive lead.

The Boks' desire then came to the fore again and they were relentless in the final quarter, although it did take a long-range penalty from Morne Steyn to clinch the series victory.

So how many South African players have emerged from the series with their reputations enhanced? Fourie du Preez has certainly augmented his status as the finest scrum-half in world rugby after being a thorn in the side of the Lions throughout the three games.

The 27-year-old Blue Bulls player is fast, physical and has the creative skills of a 10.
Botha and Matfield were imperious in the line-out and ferocious in the tight and must be the best second-row partnership in the game, while hooker Bismarck du Plessis emphasised what a physical, athletic player he is.

Habana looked back near his devastating best, and on the other wing Pietersen proved solid in defence and impressive in attack, when he got his hands on the ball. Others failed to convince. Number eight Pierre Spies, who looked a superstar in the making during the Super 14 competition, had a limited impact against the Lions.

And the Boks have yet to find a fly-half who truly convinces. Ruan Pienaar produced a fine all-round display behind a dominant pack in the first Test, but when the Lions were on top in Pretoria he struggled to control the game and was shaky in front of goal.

Morne Steyn showed an icy nerve to kick the series-winning penalty after replacing Pienaar at Loftus Versfeld before struggling as a starter at Ellis Park a week later. Elsewhere, centre Jean de Villiers and flanker Juan Smith, who are both normally world class, were slightly below their stunning best.

Doubts also remain about the style of play that best suits the Boks. When appointed, De Villiers vowed to unleash the attacking instincts of Habana and co. Eighteen months on, this has not happened and it was revealing that Pienaar passed the ball only three times during the game in Durban.

There are also lingering doubts about De Villiers himself. He was heavily criticised for making so many substitutions in Durban and his dealings with the media have been fractious.

Now the Boks have 10 days off before resuming training ahead of their Tri-Nations opener against New Zealand. Smit is adamant the best is yet to come from the side.

"There is so much more to come from this team," he said. "This side is young enough to go through to the next World Cup and with the talent we have, we would be naïve not to think we can win the Tri Nations."

Young hopefuls Zane Kirchner, Jongi Nokwe and Ryan Kankowski disappointed in the first Test though, which must lead to concerns about some of the established stars moving to Europe.

Frans Steyn has already agreed to join Racing Metro, De Villiers is strongly linked with Munster and Fourie with Clermont Auvergne. Other stars, like Matfield, turned down lucrative offers abroad only because they were so desperate to face the Lions.

The two players the Boks can least afford to lose are probably captain Smit and lock Botha. Smit admitted his side sorely missed Botha in the third Test. "We need to fill the gaps which a guy like Bakkies leaves behind," he said.

As for the skipper himself, who is on the verge of becoming the most capped international captain of all time, De Villiers said: "His aura makes him irreplaceable as a leader.

"We have to keep him part of the set-up for as long as possible."

Ugo Monye - 7: Quiet until he scored a 70-metre intercept try early in the second half. That allowed the Lions to breath a little more easily. Ends the tour as the Lions' leading try scorer with five, but memories of his missed opportunities in Durban will linger.

Tommy Bowe - 8: Played very well, especially when you consider he was away from his accustomed position on the wing. Made a couple of nice breaks before the interval and was always impressive in defence, most notably when he thwarted Odwa Ndungane on the line near the end.

Riki Flutey - 8: Deputised brilliantly for the superb Jamie Roberts. Excellent work for the second try, chasing his own chip before showing skill and awareness to offload to Shane Williams, who went in under the posts. An impressive all-round performance.

Shane Williams - 8: Started nervously, conceding a turnover and slicing a kick into touch. But showed his customary finishing skills and anticipation to grab two first-half tries. Ended the tour on a high after weeks of frustration.

Stephen Jones - 7: Slick distribution and impressive marshalling of the back line, yet again. Unlucky to miss the chance of an easy conversion when the ball dropped off the tee at the end of the first half. A strong end to a decent series for the Welsh fly-half.

Mike Phillips - 7: A characteristic performance from the tenacious scrum-half. Fierce in the tackle and a threat around the fringes, although his distribution was sometimes laboured. Adjusted well when switched to centre in the second half.

Jamie Heaslip - 8: His best performance of the series by far. Showed his dynamism, which had been under wraps for the last two weekends, with some lovely attacking cameos. A powerful surge was followed by a subtle offload for Williams' first try.

Martyn Williams - 8: A classic display of the open-side's arts. Quick to the break down, influential in attack and a thorough nuisance to the home side all afternoon. Got the better of the much-heralded Heinrich Brussow.

Joe Worsley - 7: Did exactly what was expected of him. Made tackle after tackle, was fearless and added bulk to the back row.

Paul O'Connell - 7: Led by example. Effective in the tight and never took a backward step. Sometimes looked laboured with ball in hand though.

Simon Shaw - 7: Aggressive, committed and made sure the Springbok forwards could never relax. Sin-binned after foolishly dropping his knees into Fourie du Preez's back though, which could have proved expensive.

Phil Vickery - 7: His performance will help to ease the painful memories of two weeks ago. There was no repeat of his Durban mauling by the Beast and he was a useful presence in the loose. A fitting way for the proud prop to sign off his Lions career.

Matthew Rees - 8: Another impressive performance from the Welsh hooker before he was forced off with concussion. Solid line-out throwing, part of a front row which more than matched their opposition and some strong ball carrying. Has emerged from this series with his reputation greatly enhanced.

Andrew Sheridan - 7: Looked as fired up as he was as a substitute in Pretoria last weekend. Key part of a scrum which was unrecognisable from two weeks ago and a threat with ball in hand.

Replacements:

Ross Ford - 7: Did a decent job after coming on late in the first half for Matthew Rees. Also gave Scotland its first taste of action in this Test series.

Harry Ellis - 7: Fiery and aggressive when he came on after the interval.

John Hayes - 6: Came on to win his first Test cap at the age of 35 and kept the scrum steady.

Tom Croft - 6: Saw little of his attacking prowess but busy in defence.

Alun Wyn Jones - 7: Made a couple of thumping tackles and took two line-outs.

David Wallace - 6: Too little time to make a real impact.

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