British Lions can rescue series against South Africa – Harry Ellis
The tourists trail the world champions 1-0 after a 26-21 defeat in Durban last Saturday.
But they arrived in Pretoria for the second Test with a spring in their step after winning the closing stages of that match 14-0 against a flagging Boks side.
Ellis again starts on the bench, with Wales's Mike Phillips having got the nod again, and says that the Lions are confident they can level the series and avoid a third successive series defeat.
"Looking back at the videos of the first Test, we created a lot of chances," said Ellis.
"We spilled the ball on a few occasions and made a few mistakes, which didn't help our cause.
"But the comeback proved that we can create things, and I think it will be another close game.
"We will be tweaking a few things because they have seen how we play now, but we won't be changing too much.
"The guys have a massive amount of belief that we can get a result in the second Test.
"After 20 or 30 minutes of the first Test, I was thinking, 'Oh- oh, here we go'.
"But we showed great character to come back and nearly pip them. If we had played for another 20 minutes, I think we would have won.
"That showed how committed and driven we are to get a result and we will have the same levels this weekend.
"We have trained very well in Cape Town and have been looking forward to getting to Pretoria.
"There is a lot of talent in this squad and the guys want results and success."
Ellis has been joined by a new room-mate in every town on tour, but he will be reunited with a friendly face or two this weekend as family and friends fly out for the second and third Tests.
Both games will be played at altitude, in Pretoria and Johannesburg, but Ellis says the problems of thin air have been addressed and should pose few surprises.
The Lions medical staff have worked with experts from the NFL franchise the Pittsburgh Steelers in a bid to minimise the impact of playing at altitude.
Ellis said: "We have already played and trained at altitude in Johannesburg. It is difficult, but you get used to it.
"The first training session I had up there was really tough. The guys were all feeling short of breath. But we have prepared for it. A lot of guys were in camp before we came away and were rigged up to a ventilator with a mask on.
"It made your lungs work a lot harder and makes you know what to expect when you are pushing yourself under those conditions."
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