At this morning's press conference in Cape Town, one of my colleagues suggested to Ian McGeechan that every thing so far had been a little too friendly and asked whether he thought things would be 'cranked up' significantly this week.

It is true to a large extent. Apart from flanker Stephen Ferris and Cheetahs lock Nico Breedt wrestling in the opening minutes of their clash in Bloemfontein and few other very minor spats I can't remember anything remotely close to the all-out brawls that littered the 1974 tour here or the kind of mauling the Waratahs' Duncan McRae handed out to the Lions' Ronan O'Gara during the 2001 trip to Australia.

From my own experience, which is limited compared to some of the years put in by some of my colleagues, the first few matches of this tour appear to lack the kind of intensity that could spark such outbreaks of violence.

Instead we have teams embracing each other en masse following games, swapping shirts and posing for photographs. There has been a distinct lack of bite - especially from the Golden Lions at Ellis Park - and not even any notable dangerous tackles to suggest a game plan designed to upset the tourists.

There is not even a war of words to report. Scrum-half Mike Phillips suggested there was a lack of respect coming from the Springboks as we build towards the Test series but only when he was led that way by one of the journalists after the game.

Even today, with the first Test just over a week away the latest Lions skipper Phil Vickery opted to declare his respect and affection for Springboks old and new in the form of Os du Randt and John Smit.

"Like most young props at the time [1997], I was an ardent supporter of (former Springboks prop) Os du Randt. I gave him a big hug when I saw him the other day. I remember the 2007 World Cup final and watching the South Africans picking up their [winner's] medals. When Os du Randt collected his medal, as disappointed as I was, I actually felt quite proud for him.
"It couldn't have happened to a better guy, really.

"You have respect for people, and I have a huge amount of respect for the South Africans and the way they play, and I've been lucky enough to make a few friends along the way."

No danger of it kicking off in the front row then do you think? Or is this all mind games and the Lions will unleash all their pent-up venom in Durban?

Even the Springboks were laughing and joking at their squad announcement recently - although that may just be a case of over-confidence.

For the record, the Lions head coach said he expects a change in the 'environment' as we build towards the first Test with South Africa on June 20 due to the increasing pressures that will accompany that significant clash.