The British and Irish Lions scored 24 straight points in the final 15 minutes to come from behind to beat the Royal XV 37-25 in the opening match of their South Africa tour.

The Lions only hit the front in the 76th minute when replacement lock Alun-Wyn Jones crashed over from close range after a rolling maul. Ronan O'Gara then scored with time almost up for a personal tally of 21 points at Royal Bafokeng Stadium.

The Royal XV led 18-3 in the first half after tries to captain Wilhelm Koch and hooker Rayno Barnes, but Lions winger Tommy Bowe crossed in the 38th minute to narrow the gap to 18-10 at halftime.

Royal XV prop Bees Roux went over in the 64th to push the margin out to 25-13 before Lee Byrne scored a solo try straight from the restart to start the Lions comeback.

"We were very scrappy in the first half, and we learnt very quickly how tough it can be in South Africa in a big way," Lions captain Paul O'Connell said. "We won't make that many mistakes again, but credit to the home team who really gave it everything."

Out-scrummaged in the first 20 minutes, the Royal XV managed to get in the faces of the Lions through some tigerish tackling and good work by scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius, who disrupted opposite number Mike Blair at the base of scrums and at rucks.

The Royal XV scored the first try of the tour in the 17th when Koch took a well-disguised pass from flyhalf Naas Olivier from 10 metres out and ran into a gaping hole to score.

Ten minutes later, it looked even worse for the Lions when Barnes drove over with ease from a lineout maul close to the try line.

But the Lions gradually got back into the match. They turned down numerous penalty kicks awarded by South African referee Marius Jonker, and were eventually rewarded when Bowe scythed over under the sticks from a neat inside pass from O'Gara.

After some opening jitters when centre Keith Earls knocked on three times with his first three touches of the ball, the Lions trailed by seven points at halftime.

O'Gara kicked a penalty in the second half before Roux crashed over for a try from a rare second-half attack.

However, Byrne kicked ahead after the restart, controlled the ball twice with his foot and then picked up to score in the 67th. Jones soon went over before O'Gara added a late try when the hosts were committed to attack.

"The Lions outplayed us in the last 30 minutes," Koch said.

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