The Royal XV were supposed to be easy prey, but they almost savaged the tour hopes of the Lions.
Defeat against a side drawn from the would have dealt a devastating psychological blow to Ian McGeechan's men.
Their comeback in the final 15 minutes owed much to the brilliance of , the cool head of and their superior fitness levels.
Victory allowed the tourists to focus on the positives despite an unconvincing display.
One of Ian McGeechan's first objectives as Lions coach has been to try and engender a sense of fun and camaraderie in his squad.
On the evidence of the "farewell tea party" held before the squad flew to South Africa on Sunday, the wily Scot seems to have achieved his aim.
Jerry Flannery, his arm in a sling following the , was chatting to Donncha O'Callaghan and Paul O'Connell on a sun-drenched patch of lawn.
The Ireland hooker had chosen to stay at to support his Lions team-mates despite having been ruled out of the tour days earlier.
Even the most optimistic of Lions fans might feel a little disheartened at the moment.
Within the space of a few hours on Wednesday, .
With Tomas O'Leary and Tom Shanklin already ruled out of the series through injury, the Lions do not seem to be getting off to the best of starts. A day of yachting on the Solent, to boost the team-bonding process, was cancelled on Thursday in favour of some less demanding pursuits.
But Ian McGeechan's men can take some solace from the knowledge that the Springboks are facing problems of their own.
Maybe it's only a coincidence that three of the four men battling to save their sides from the Premier League trapdoor this weekend are all first-time managers.
Yet one of the messages of the season is that experience matters. The leading contenders for manager of the year will mainly be seasoned, battle-hardened campaigners.
Aside from obvious choice Sir Alex Ferguson - whose I don't need to list here - I'm thinking of the likes of Roy Hodgson, David Moyes and Tony Pulis.
Each has exceeded what could reasonably have been expected of them at the start of the season.
Sir Alex Ferguson is quite clear about who Manchester United fans should blame if their hero Carlos Tevez is not at Old Trafford next season.
"(Carlos) knows we want him to stay...and the terms he has been offered are good," the Scot said after watching .
"The problem is we are not negotiating with a football club."
Instead, United are dealing with , who reacted arguing it was "categorically untrue" that United had made an offer for Tevez.
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