ALUN Wyn Jones proved the doubters wrong as he led the British and Irish Lions to victory against South Africa in their first Test – but the captain warned there is still plenty of work to do.

The tourists recovered from a 12-3 half-time deficit against South Africa in Cape Town to take control of the Castle Lager Lions Series against the world champions with a 22-17 triumph.

A second half try from Luke Cowan-Dickie and 14 points from Dan Biggar’s boot helped the men in red clinch the opening Test against the Springboks in their first meeting since 2009.

And having made a miraculous recovery from a dislocated shoulder to start against the world champions, the inspirational leader was happy to prove that he was ready for the challenge.

“I feel like I’ve been in a Test match, but I’ve had those doubts (about lasting the full 80 minutes) for a considerable time in my career, so I’m used to them,” said Jones.

“I didn’t know I was going to be selected, but I’m happy to be part of it and add to the energy the guys brought, we showed threads of what we could do in the games leading up to it.

“There were questions after the South Africa ‘A’ game (which the Lions lost 17-13), and we probably posed a few of those questions the way we played in those early exchanges.

“But we came through the pressure we felt in the middle third, the set piece became prevalent, so we can be pleased but there are definitely things to work on from the early part of the game.”

Jones was playing his 10th consecutive Test for the Lions, 12 years after making his debut in the famous red jersey against the Springboks in the 2009 series defeat.

The 35-year-old’s fourth Tour had appeared to be over before it started when he came off injured just seven minutes into the tourists’ 28-10 victory over Japan in Edinburgh.

But the Welsh icon joined up with the squad just 18 days later, and after making 10 tackles in a titanic defensive display, Jones said the squad will not rest on their laurels until the job is done.

“You want to win every game, whether domestic, international or Lions, we know what we’ve achieved, but we also know what we haven’t achieved,” he said.

“There is still plenty to do and this is a three-Test series, so knowing the calibre of the player and the attitude our opposition have, we have to be better again – first and foremost within ourselves.

“But we also have to deal with what we know is going to come next week. There were smiles after the game, in any sport, you have to enjoy moments like this as they don’t come round very often.

“But the caveat to that is we are only a third done and that message has already been planted. It’s a time for everyone to take stock of where we are and be ready to move on to next week.”