The British and Irish Lions say they are having trouble with their legs. This is a perfectly understandable - rugby players, after all, use their legs quite a lot.
When they're not standing or running on them, they are often seen sitting down, with pained looks on their faces, and rubbing them.
Some players talk of getting their legs over, but Lions assistant coach Rob Howley insists his players are complaining of not getting their legs going. I don't think this is one and the same thing, but in a sense, they could be related.
Howley is perfectly correct. In order to score, you've got to get your legs pumping. Upon arrival in South Africa, a New Zealand player once confided that he intended to score more off the field than on it.
This was a ruse, no doubt, because he scored 44 points in 13 matches, which made him the fourth highest scorer on tour. That wasn't bad but the Springboks still outscored the All Blacks.
With the notable exception of hurdling, high jumping and pole-vaulting, where you have to get your leg over, most sports require that you get the legs going.
Rugby players must also look after their feet, particularly on our hard fields. Those from green and pleasant isles have complained of this in the past. This stems from having feet with soft soles from not walking kaalvoet enough on barren ground.
Howley says his players also complain of dry throats and sapped energy. This is perfectly logical - rugby players tend to exert themselves. There is quite a bit of running involved.
In the same lack of breath, he also mentions the effects of having to play at altitude - a reason, a friend assures me, why the Chiefs conceded 61 points in Pretoria. On Wednesday night the Lions will play in Johannesburg, where the altitude is even higher. Then they travel to Bloemfontein, where the field is harder.
You have to question their itinerary. Indeed, those who devised it may well have been led by Messrs Thomas Cook and Gulliver. It is eminently designed for UK supporters whose three-week package holiday can catch the business end of the Lions' campaign with three back-to-back Tests and the Emerging Boks' match thrown in as a bonus.
Our favourite former England cricketer Allan Lamb is leading one such supporters' tour to these parts - and why not? In the Sunday Telegraph he provides an excellent remedy for dry throats and sapped energy by listing the best pubs and grills we are able to offer.
This probably doesn't help the Lions but they are professional rugby players whose job obliges them to overcome deprivation, altitude and legs that won't get going. Still, their remuneration is not to be sneezed at. At last night's exchange rate, they will each earn R495 520, plus R130 400 if they win the Test series.
Sounds like a good enough reason to get those legs going.