Harlequins winger Ugo Monye put aside a sleepless night to make the cut for the first British & Irish Lions Test against South Africa on Saturday.

The 26-year-old scored in Tuesday’s hard-fought 20-8 triumph over the Southern Kings to put him level with wing rival Tommy Bowe as the tour’s leading scorers with four tries.

Monye, who only made his England debut last autumn, will start this weekend’s clash with the Springboks after also impressing in last week’s 26-23 triumph over Western Province.

He faced competition from Luke Fitzgerald, Shane Williams and Irish full-back Rob Kearney for a starting spot, with Bowe all-but guaranteeing his slot with a string of eye catching displays.

But Monye, who will follow in the footsteps of another famously committed Christian - England World Cup winner Jason Robinson - should he make a try-scoring appearance in Durban, admitted it would be a nervous wait.

“I’ll probably have to take a sleeping tablet to get through the night,” he said ahead of Thursday's announcement.

“Everyone is nervous. This could be the biggest moment in your career, so everyone has a right to be nervous.

“I’ll just leave it to the coaches, have a chilled out night and look forward to it.”

The Lions came in for some rough treatment at the hands of the Kings on Tuesday that saw Lions fly-half James Hook and prop Euan Murray ruled out of the weekend’s clash through injury.

It has been surprising coach Ian McGeechan’s men haven’t come on for similar treatment earlier in the tour and Monye, while disappointed with the opposition’s tactics, admitted it means they are battle hardened for the coming weeks.

“It was a tough game and there were a few off the ball incidents that I think we were all disappointed with,” he said.

“We expected a tough game. The first thing you think of when you play a South African team is that it is going to be physical and it certainly was.

“There were some guys out there where this is the biggest game of their career.

“They were going hell for leather and they were very committed. That is probably the nicest way of putting it.

“The next few games are going to be tough and very physical, but we are going to be ready for it.”