Dr Brian Cunniffe: The science behind training the Lions for altitude

The Lions’ sports scientist, Dr Brian Cunniffe, from Roscommon, has worked on two previous tours, to Australia in 2013 and New Zealand four years ago

Lions players taking part in altitude training, a protocol developed by their sports scientist, Brian Cunniffe, from Roscommon. Picture: Dan Sheridan

If the British & Irish Lions are to prevail in this fiercely contested series against the Springboks, victory is the bottom line in the third and final Test at Cape Town Stadium this Saturday.

And for all the improvements required by Warren Gatland after a desperately disappointing second Test performance that saw the world champions level the series at one apiece with a 27-9 victory, the head coach can remain absolutely confident in his players’ ability to stay the course from a conditioning perspective.