England employed Joe Worsley in exactly the same role during the Six Nations and he succeeded in chopping Roberts down before he had the chance to break over the gain-line and set Wales moving.

But Roberts is confident that he and O’Driscoll, who have been sharing a room in Cape Town in the build-up to the crunch second Test, will have the perfect reply at Loftus Versfeld tomorrow.

“I see that talk as a compliment to myself. We have got some tricks up our sleeves,” said Roberts.

“We just need to box clever, use the right moves at the right times.

“Our partnership has gone really well and one of the reasons is that we communicate well on and off the pitch.

“They will have analysed the game last week and seen a lot of half breaks and line breaks from myself and Brian. I am sure they won’t be best pleased about their defence.

“They will have worked hard on that and we will have less space this week but that means there is space elsewhere."

The Lions feel they missed a golden chance of victory in Durban after mounting a comeback from 26-7 down and a first-half mauling in the forwards to get within five points.

The success of the 2009 tour hangs on the result tomorrow and Roberts demanded the Lions come out with all guns blazing.

“Our backs are against the wall. It is the ultimate challenge in rugby to come from 1-0 down in a Test series,” he said.

“We need to start the game tomorrow how we finished the first Test with that intensity and speed of ball. We need to be tactically sound and take our chances. Clinical is the key word.”