South Africa will urge Saturday's referee in the first Test, Bryce Lawrence, to take a close look at the Lions' scrum, claiming it is illegal.

The head coach from each side, plus an assistant, will meet the New Zealander Lawrence on the eve of the game at the Absa Stadium. South Africa will raise their fears about the Lions' tactics at the scrum and the breakdown.

They have had issues with Lawrence before, but the South Africa assistant coach, Dick Muir, said: "That is all in the past and we respect him as one of the leading referees in the world.

"We will be talking about the breakdown area, because it is such an important part of the game and we need to know his interpretations, but we will also be raising the issue of the scrum. We have seen things from the Lions this tour that have been of concern to us and we will point them out."

The International Rugby Board stopped coaches meeting with referees before matches in the World Cup, and tried to lean on coaches not to crank up the pressure on officials by making inflammatory remarks about aspects of the laws in the build-up to games.

That policy has been dumped, much to the relief of the Lions head coach, Ian McGeechan.

"I could never understand why it was introduced in the first place," he said. "If you do not have communication, that is when the problems start."

The Lions have conceded a number of penalties at the scrum this tour, especially during the first half of last week's victory over the Sharks when Gethin Jenkins was regularly penalised for taking down by South Africa's leading referee, Jonathan Kaplan, much to the disgust of the tourists.

The scrum used to be a staple of South African rugby, but it is an area where the Lions have been expected to gain supremacy with the Springboks continuing to field John Smit, who has won most of his 81 caps at hooker, on the tight-head.

South Africa got around the rules before the 2007 World Cup final by complaining about what they saw as England's illegalities in the scrum by having a word with the referee, Alain Rolland, when he came into the dressing room before the kick-off to inspect studs.

"I am not worried about our scrum but I am not delighted with it either," said the Lions assistant forwards coach, Graham Rowntree, who is in charge of scrummaging. "We still have work to do. There is nothing illegal about our technique. South Africa are the world champions playing in their own back yard and they are not going to want us to push them around."