The British & Irish Lions taught the Golden Lions a thing or two about big Cats tonight as they put the home side to the sword at Ellis Park. We try and get honest, despite the awesome result, and assess the performances. It has to be said though, high scores across the park!

1.Gethin Jenkins - 8
Showed why he has been the number one prop in the British & Irish Isles. Robust as can be at scrum-time, keeping it up when others would have buckled. The dynamism both with ball in hand, and at the breakdown was immense. Awesome gang-tackle late in the game with Ellis setup the disrupted ball off which Ferris ran the length of the field.

2. Lee Mears - 9
Missed his jumper at the first lineout but was otherwise faultless following. Threw the ball like a dart even when going to Croft at the tail. Brilliant in the loose and unbelievably comfortable with ball in hand. Spinning wide passes, looking comfortable with ball in hand and even working as a lovely backline fulcrum late in the game. Mears has stepped up a few gears.

3. Phil Vickery - 8
A vintage performance from the old war-horse. Played with the sort of energy that hasn't been seen in an international shirt in some years. Solid in the scrum and excellent in the loose. The speed he was back on his feet following tackles was superb. Straight up and into the defensive line. Equally combative at the breakdown and captained the side for a short time before being subbed.

4. Nathan Hines - 8
Thrown less lineout ball than Jones and Croft, but did a lot of unseen work and faultless at the lineout when used. For a man used to playing in a mediocre Scottish pack he reveled in the collective quality and brought epic power to the second-row. Ferocious.

5. Alun-Wyn Jones - 8
Will Greenwood recently said on the School of Hard Knocks show that, in rugby, intensity and ferocity is all in the eyes. Running out onto the field Jones looked fierce and focused. Steely stuff. For a young man, he played a nearly complete game without a hint of nerves. He lead the team late in the 2nd half after both Brian O'Driscoll and Phil Vickery had left the field and was barking orders like Maximus Decimus Meridius. Majestic at the lineout and brought real brutality to the contact area. Fine game.

6. Tom Croft - 9
Probably the outstanding performer in the pack. Croft was simply imperious at the tail of the lineout and incredible around the pitch. He's been talked up in some corners and pooh-poohed in others, but the Tiger showed he can be a Lion as well as he produced a near MoTM performance. His outright pace terrorised the home defence as he went under the sticks once and nearly made it a double. He also offered exceptional link play, popping balls off the deck and always looking to offload. The late call-up has laid down a real marker.

7. David Wallace - 7
Hugely improved game playing at 7 rather than 8. Carried powerfully throughout the game though he maybe didn't sparkle as much as some of his teammates. One of three players handed their second start in 5 days, and got stuck in with gusto. Another player doing plenty of unseen work and crucial to the Lions intensity at ruck and maul. Very close to being scored an 8.

8. Jamie Heaslip - 8
Ferociously destructive tackling all day long. Carried reasonably well if a little quiet and also showed excellent control at the base of the scrum and picked up well to run hard into the Golden Lion's defence. The eight to match currently. Andy Powell has his work cutout.

9. Mike Phillips - 8
Entered the fray with a skip and swagger that simply oozed confidence. Where Blair was ponderous and nervy, Phillips looked like a man brimming with self-belief. Dismissed his opposing number both in terms of performance and physical superiority. Clearly watched the 1974 Invincibles film and has agreed that he quite simply won't be bullied. Tackled off the ball by Vermaak, he and A.W. Jones positively ejected him from the fringe at the next ruck. "BACK, would-be-pretender. Guilty late in the game of trying too much when the Lions needed to continue playing structured direct rugby. An over-complex grubber when both an inside and outside passing option was on was one of a few small errors in an otherwise great performance.

10. Stephen Jones - 9
Developed a sparkling understanding with O'Driscoll from the get-go. They've played together before, but the communication bordered on the telepathic. Stuart Barnes pointed out that he's not Barry John or Phil Bennett, but his distributing game tonight was a fine thing. Delivered a number of beautiful flat miss passes and showed superb hands to tap the ball on for Bowe's first. The familiarity with Phillips and Roberts was plain to see, but the way he ran off BOD and vice-versa was particularly impressive.

11. Ugo Monye - 7
Scored a lovely brace and showed his wheels in both tries to finish untouched. Despite a great performance from the relatively inexperienced wing, he was involved in a few too many errors to get a higher score. Knocked on a few times and didn't have the nearly flawless game of those around him. His raw pace is however devestating and put in space, you'd back him to finish every time. Some good man-and-ball defence late in the game showed he has more strings to his bow. Monye retired with a leg strain late in the game though it's unclear of the severity. Fingers crossed he's ok.

12. Jamie Roberts - 9
Another sparkling performance from the welsh centre. He's played 120 mins or so of rugby in a Lions shirt and barely put a foot wrong. His power is a sight to behold, but he has a fabulous offloading game too and like the rest of the midfield he came together very quickly with those around him. Started running decoy lines late in the game after he'd taught the Golden Lions to fear his presence and was instrumental in providing the space for the try of the game - Bowe in the right hand corner.

13. Brian O'Driscoll - 9
What more can you say? In BOD we trust. A world class player who showed his worth tonight. Not the outright pace of his younger 2001 tour days, but his ability to pass into the hands of Jones without so much as looking was downright astonishing and was constantly getting his arms through gaps to set support runners on their way. King of the off-load and a master of angled running, he took his try well to scythe through the opposition defence. His captaincy was brilliant also. After David Wallace recovered from a boot to the gut, BOD was up and chatting to him, slapping him on the back and encouraging his teammate on. Likewise, after the game he showed a wise head to not lose perspective and remain focused. The task ahead is still huge and his maturity in not forgetting that is essential to the Lions wider tour hopes. A sensational player, his continued fitness is off huge importance to the progressing tour.

14. Tommy Bowe - 9
Like Roberts, Bowe has hardly put a foot wrong having played two full games in the Lions jersey. Top scorer with three, he's proven my earlier assessment of good but not great to be complete poppycock. I take it back. Boy's a freak. Quite simply breathtaking play, both in the finishing stakes, where he still had a fair bit left to do to dot down his first and even better as a linking, offloading, roaming wing. Left the touchlines regularly to intervene brilliantly in the midfield and his quick hands in the build-up to Croft's try were sensational. Had hands-on in at least four tries besides his two. A huge performance and a strong test contender.

15. Rob Kearney - 8
Huge performance needed after Byrne's performance last week and delivered an assured game. Imperious in the air, memorable for rising particularly high to take one bomb while coming forward, and dangerous in attack. He looks incredibly light on his feet and has a wonderful step off both. Maybe slightly at fault for running into the opposition a few times to often and an uncharacteristic knock-on, but a good performance from the full-back and some howitzer kicking to prove that he can siege-gun with the best of them.

Replacements

Ross Ford - 7
Like Mears, missed his first throw, but was solid for the remainder of the game. Not as visible as the Englishman in his short time on the pitch, but did little wrong.

Euan Murray - 7
Scrummaged well and offered heaps of physicality. Looked like a man craving the game. As with Ford, can't wait to see him start, I want to see more of them both.

Stephen Ferris - 8
Huge impact on the game. Crunching double tackles with Harry Ellis and even showed great discipline to 'gently setdown' their quarry when the opportunity to bury him in an illegal spear tackle must have been overwhelming. Of the backrow options, he is probably the most destructive at the breakdown and his power in the contact area was scary. Gathered the ball well off a Golden Lion error before sprinting 70 odd meters leaving both Pretorius and Killian in his wake. The closest thing we've got to Pierre Spies.

Andy Powell - 7
Not the impact he would have wanted to had with a few fumbles and loose passes. Still, didn't do a great deal wrong and kept the intensity high late in the game.

Harry Ellis - 7
Notable mostly for his muscular defence. Chummed up with Ferris and Heaslip for two huge double hits and threw himself at Killian in open play. A lovely snipe off a dummied box-kick capped off a great Lions debut.

James Hook - 8
Graceful running and constantly appeared to have a vast amount of time on the ball. Admittedly joined the fray late on when the opposition had largely fallen apart, but his confidence and flair was present for all to see. Rode a huge tackle after just 5 mins on the pitch, got up and shook it off. Slotted in equally well at centre and 10, kicked his goals well and made a great break off an intercepted pass.

Shane Williams - 7
Amazingly, fairly quiet. Who would have imagined that Williams would be try-less at this stage? Made no glaring errors, but didn't really have the time to introduce himself into the game. He'll hope to get a start on Saturday or next Wednesday to show what he can do. The bigger the challenge the bigger the response? We certainly hope so!