British and Irish Lions assistant coach Shaun Edwards insists his side will roar when it matters, despite a lacklustre performance in their late victory over the Royal XV.

Late tries from man-of-the-match Lee Byrne, fly-half Ronan O?Gara and Welsh bruiser Alun Wyn Jones spared the Lions' blushes and prevented the current crop from becoming the first touring side since 1971 to lose their opening match.

But, having found themselves 18-3 and 25-13 down and with a catalogue of handling errors, Edwards is only too aware his troops must improve if they are to follow in the footsteps of the victorious class of 1997.

"We were a bit taken aback by how many mistakes the guys made out there," said Edwards. "They looked like a bunch of guys, who haven't played with each other for very long, thrown together,.

"We didn't expect it and we were a bit shocked. The fact of the matter is that if we play like that against the Super 14 teams or in the tests then we'll lose.

"But I've got a lot of faith that we will build on the positives from today and we will be ready for the test matches."