Van der Merwe is gearing up for a hostile reception from Springboks fans

life-changing events of last week. Josh Adams was a late withdrawal from the starting XV to face South Africa ‘A’ a week ago to witness the birth of his first child on Zoom and when he returned to play the Stormers last Saturday, he struggled.

“It was a really tough call leaving Josh Adams out. I spoke to him and said it was such a tough call for us and for himself,” Gatland said.

“He had a pretty emotional week last week with the birth of his child and then the next couple of days checking in.

“By his own admission, he probably didn’t play as well as he normally would have done against the Stormers and that’s completely understandable because of the week he had.

“He had a knock on his hip and quite a significant blow to the sternum that was pretty sore as well.

“It was probably an easy out for us, really. I’m not saying that lightly, but he did have an emotional week. We looked at it and that was possibly the deciding factor.”

Alun Wyn Jones, meanwhile, will take even greater satisfaction from leading the Lions against South Africa after rescuing his tour from oblivion.

Four weeks to the day after dislocating his left shoulder seven minutes into the curtain-raiser against Japan, Jones will captain the Lions in the critical series opener.

The Wales skipper had been ruled out of the tour only to learn there was a way back from the injury, enabling him to show remarkable powers of recovery that have seen him dubbed ‘Lazarus’ by team-mates.

“The first few days after dislocating the shoulder and getting home, I was almost on the sofa before the guys had even got to the airport on the Monday. That was a tough one," Jones said.

“Fast forward to the Tuesday when I was told there was a chance - it was bordering on the surreal. To be here now and taking the knocks and bumps and being in amongst it with the group – it means more, I am not going to lie.

“I had spent two weeks with the guys getting to know people. We were bedding in with the rugby. I had the seven minutes and for those two days that was my tour done.

“I had the decent news on the Tuesday and sometimes all you need is a chance and I was willing to work hard, and make it difficult for Warren Gatland, to make myself available for selection.

“I was fortunate enough to get some game time against the Stormers on Saturday and put myself in contention.

“Obviously when you finish a series or a tour you don’t know whether you are going to tour next and a lot of games go under the bridge.

“To be sitting here now is a very, very special thing, but it is only a very short step to what is going to be, hopefully, a very enjoyable week."

Jones becomes the first player of the professional era to make 10 consecutive Test appearances for the Lions having also been capped on the 2009, 2013 and 2017 Lions tours.

When Gatland was asked what that achievement means, he joked: “That he’s old! He’s been around a while!

“It’s a fantastic achievement for anyone playing your first Test match, but playing 10 .... It’s fantastic. I think it shows who he is as a player.”

Now that Jones has completed a recovery described by Gatland as a “miracle”, he has one objective in his sights. “We set out – and this is the message I gave to the squad back at the Lensbury in June – to win a Test series. I think we have a squad here capable of starting that ball rolling,” he said.