If Elton Jantjies is the obvious example of a Lions renaissance, then Julian Redelinghuys is one of the more obscure. Tighthead props are rarely noticed. They often go about their work unnoticed and unappreciated. They will also shrug off questions from outsiders about the front-row play, preferring to discuss arcane matters like strength-versus-technique with fellow practitioners of the dark arts. And don't mention referees in their presence.Redelinghuys, the Lions tighthead, is a member of this circle. His physique is perfect for the role. At five-nine and 18 stone (rugby dimensions for 1.75m and 113kg) he is built like the proverbial water closet of brick and mortar. He is comfortable binding low and straight against opponents and would have enjoyed a beer on Saturday night with Pauliasi Manu, the respected Chiefs loosehead, who took the brunt of Redelinghuys's scrummaging at the weekend.It has been to men like Redelinghuys that Lions coach Johan Ackermann has turned for the platforms that took the team to successive victories over the Sunwolves and the Chiefs. The latter was achieved, astonishingly, in Hamilton, fortress of Waikato rugby and once home of the famous Clarke brothers Don and Ian, and the great Wilson Whineray. In Waikato they don't easily concede home-ground advantage.You could say that the Lions' spectacular charge of attacking rugby, especially in the second half on Saturday, was the result of their scrum beachhead, established by men like Redelinghuys, along with others, especially his left-hand man, the outstanding Malcolm Marx at hooker.This allowed Jantjies, courtesy of a superb scrumhalf service from Faf de Klerk, to operate on rugby's tightrope, the advantage line. The flyhalf's confidence in playing flat, in the faces of the opposition, is another indication of how Ackermann has moulded this team of also-rans into serious contenders. Jantjies can play this way because he knows those around him, like Lionel Mapoe and Ruan Combrinck, know precisely how to play off him.After a dismal opening round of Super rugby, the Lions lifted their game and, with it, our spirits back home.The Stormers weren't bad either. They shed their Bloemfontein bogey, beating the Cheetahs, while the Sharks struggled against yet another display of enterprise by the Jaguars, whom the rugby media - always willing to toe the line of marketing head prefects - insist on inserting an "e" into the team's name where there isn't one in English; it's only there in Spanish. This Jaguar might be fast, but it's not an e-type.While we're on motoring, the Sharks played like Cape Town drivers trying to negotiate a Joburg rush hour and the referee in that game, Jaco Peyper - all taken out in his new sponsored Outsurance livery - looked like a pointsman at the intersection of Rivonia and Katherine where the lights are always out. Except that the pointsmen there have a feel for the traffic, unlike Peyper on Saturday night. He put two Jaguars in the sin-bin. He was more traffic cop than referee. In spite of being given two yellow tickets, the Jaguars raced to a try by their left wing, Emilliano Boffelli, who must be the fastest man in Super rugby.The Sharks clung on to win 19-15, but for a good part of the game they were 15 men against 13. They will need some panel-beating before they take on the Stormers at Newlands on Saturday...