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A paucity of world-class goalkickers seems to be causing most of the jitters in South Africa, which is hardly surprising when you cast your mind back to the 1997 series when the same problem proved a major factor in the Springboks' 2-1 series defeat.

, the first-choice fly-half and goalkicker, performed well on the tour of Britain last November. An ankle injury has put him out for two to three weeks, although Bok coach Peter de Villiers is confident he will be back for the first Test on 20 June.

The Boks are short of kicking alternatives if Pienaar doesn't make it back in time though. Bath's Butch James, South Africa's fly-half when they won the 2007 World Cup, is a . Percy Montgomery - such a liability with the boot in 1997 but a player who went on to become South Africa's all-time leading point scorer - and is now the team's kicking coach.

De Villiers has picked and the uncapped utility back as his front-line kickers for and some South Africans seem a little concerned, including former Bok fly-half .

"We learned a hard lesson in 1997 by not focussing on the role of goalkicker," he says. "This time we have to get it right."

Another former Bok number 10, Joel Stransky, has argued that the kicking ability of means he should start against the Lions at full-back. This seems highly unlikely though, as the prodigiously talented back is injured and out of favour with De Villiers.

The full-back shirt is likely to go to in-form Bulls back in the absence of the superb , who has a broken leg, while veteran Stefan Terblanche is also a contender.

Of more concern to De Villiers will be the form of some of his star players, particularly Brian Habana.

Stransky says: "Habana has had a very poor Super 14, he has really struggled. The ball has not really come to him and he has been a bit short in terms of work-rate."

Some are even questioning whether the 2007 IRB World Player of the Year has permanently lost a yard of pace. Schalk Burger has been "a bit quiet", according to Stransky, while Ricky Janaurie has been "terribly out of sorts", which could leave a lack of cover for Fourie du Preez at scrum-half.

De Villiers has scant opportunity to iron out these problems before the Lions series starts. Namibia are the Boks' only warm-up opponents after a proposed game against New Zealand Maori fell through, and none of the sizeable Bulls contingent will be available for the match in Windhoek next Friday.

They are playing the Crusaders in the semi-finals of the Super 14 in Pretoria on Saturday, with a potential final appearance the following week. De Villiers will be a nervous man watching those games.

As many as 10 potential Boks will be playing, including locks Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha, back-rower Pierre Spies, centre Morne Steyn (a useful kicker, and another possible contender for the fly-half role) and Habana.

If they come through unscathed, the Bulls players will join up with a squad that begins a training camp in Johannesburg on 1 June, before moving on to Durban on 9 June.

I've given Lions fans some reasons to cheer up, but there is a flip side. The world champions have a host of magnificent players, an experienced skipper in John Smit and a settled side with the second row and back row particularly strong.

And make no mistake: the side is absolutely desperate to beat the Lions. Smit is the only member of the squad to have faced them before, having come on as a sub for the Sharks in 1997 and Stransky explains: "Maybe because we play Australia and New Zealand so often, the novelty has worn off.. a lot of the Boks have remained in the country for another season or two to ensure they get an opportunity to beat the Lions."

McGeechan insists: "Some of them look on this as bigger than a World Cup. Peter de Villiers has told me he has players with 80 or 90 caps, but none of them is against the Lions."

This is why eight Boks are reported to have turned down lucrative moves to France and the chance to treble their salaries.

Earlier this year, Northampton owner Keith Barwell told me he had made a "massive, massive offer" to Matfield last summer, but the lock turned it down because he was so desperate to face the Lions.

The interest in the country as a whole is huge. All three Tests quickly sold out and there has also been a clamour from the media in South Africa and the UK.

Springboks communications manager Anthony Mackaiser says he would expect to get 70 journalists at a Tri Nations match, but the figure will be closer to 300 for the Lions series.

He received almost 400 applications for accreditation from the UK alone.

"The sense of excitement and anticipation over here is already huge," he told me. And the Boks are desperate not to let their country down.