It was the second successive Lions series that Steyn, who won the 2017 European Rugby Challenge Cup with Stade Français and tallied 123 points in European competitions across seven seasons at the French club, had kicked the Springboks to victory.

Twelve years ago, the 37-year-old substitute was the South African match-winner as he landed a penalty from inside his own half with the final kick of the game, although that was in the second Test in Pretoria after they had won the first Test.

Montpellier Hérault Rugby fly-half Handre Pollard slotted a penalty on 12 minutes to give South Africa the lead, but Racing 92 fly-half Finn Russell – on as an 11th minute substitute for injured Northampton Saints counterpart Dan Biggar – landed a kick of his own moments later to draw the Lions level.

The Lions then jumped 10-3 ahead three minutes later when Scarlets hooker Ken Owens dotted down at the back of a well-constructed maul and Russell tacked on the conversion.

However, that advantage was reduced to four points on 36 minutes when Pollard kicked his second penalty of the game to leave matters in the balance at the break.

The Lions were let off the hook seven minutes into the second half when a Pollard penalty struck the upright and Pollard was off target again on 54 minutes after Russell was penalised for a high tackle on Stade Toulousain wing Cheslin Kolbe, who helped the French club to Heineken Champions Cup glory last season.

However, Kolbe got his revenge two minutes later by scoring the Springboks’ try, brilliantly stepping inside Scarlets full-back Liam Williams and holding off Exeter Chiefs hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie to dive over in the corner.

There was a lengthy TMO review to investigate a potential knock-on in the build-up, but the try was eventually awarded, with Pollard’s conversion edging South African into a 13-10 lead.

The Lions drew level on 62 minutes through a Russell penalty, but Steyn came off the bench to kick South Africa back in front from the tee five minutes later.

Russell then held his nerve to nudge over a high-pressure penalty on 74 minutes, levelling the scores at 16-16 to set up a thrilling finale.

But it was Steyn who had the final say, breaking Lions hearts to slot a penalty with two minutes left to play and hand South Africa the series win.

Former Stade Français Paris fly-half Morné Steyn kicked a dramatic 78th minute penalty for South Africa as they beat the British and Irish Lions 19-16 in Cape Town on Saturday to clinch a 2-1 series win.