The Emerging Springboks lowered the British and Irish Lions' colours once more. It may have been a 13-all draw at a cold and blustery Newlands on Tuesday night, but it was a deserved drawn in a game that seldom rose to any great heights.

It was a Willem de Waal conversion in injury time that secured the draw, following a Danwel Demas try, after the Lions held the lead for more than 70 minutes.

It was sweet revenge for De Waal, who had missed a touchline conversion when playing for Western Province earlier in the tour - which could have secured WP a win.

This time De Waal, coming on as a second half replacement, had just one shot at goal - a conversion from the touchline in very testing conditions, and he became an instant hero.

It mattered not how the South Africans got there, they will claim the moral victory - coming back from 0-10 down after 15 minutes.

As Emerging Boks captain Dewald Potgieter said afterwards, the players probably didn't quite realise the enormity of their achievement - having drawn with the most famous of all touring teams.

The draw follows after the Lions' loss to the Boks in the first Test last Saturday and will leave a feeling of despair in the touring party.

The conditions certainly didn't make for an attractive game, with a very strong, fresh breeze making life unpleasant or both teams. The wind, along with the rain that fell for most of the game and periodically came pouring down during the game, made for even more unpleasant conditions.

Both teams deserve credit for trying to play rugby, but in the testing conditions it was not a wise decision and resulted in a very high error rate.

The outstanding feature of the match was the Emerging Boks' aggressive defending and other than a gift first-half try the Lions seldom looked threatening.

There was some very ordinary kicking by both teams, but the Emerging Boks were particularly poor and gifted the Lions numerous counter attacking opportunities.

It took just over two minutes for the first penalty to come - when Luzuko Vulindlu did not release in the tackle. But Ronan O'Gara missed from point-blank.

A couple of penalties later and O'Gara had second shot at goal - but not before Irish referee Alain Rolland had a stern talk to Emerging Boks captain Dewald Potgieter. This time the Lions skipper was on target and the visitors held a 3-0 lead after eight minutes.

In no time the South African team was on attack, following a neat little grubber by Earl Rose - which saw fullback Keith Earls being forced into touch for a line-out five metres from the tourists' line. But that soon turned into a penalty for the visitors for not releasing in the tackle.

However, the Lions were gifted their first try - scored by fullback Keith Earls - after Emerging Bok fullback Zane Kirchner lobbed a kick into Riki Flutey's hands and in no time the already fragile South African defence was breached. O'Gara added the conversion for a 10-0 lead.

Just on the quarter mark Earl Rose had a penalty shot at goal, after the Lions collapsed a scrum. However, with the rain belting down and the wind swirling Rose never got close to the uprights.

With just under five minutes in the half left the Emerging Boks had another shot at goal - coming after the Lions killed the ball at a ruck, when scrumhalf Jano Vermaak stole the ball from under his opponents' noses at a Lions scrum. This time Rose was on target and the South Africans had opened their account - 3-10.

The Boks had another scoring opportunity as the half came to a close, but Zane Kirchner's grubber was too strong and rolled into touch.

Before five minutes of the second half was over Lions skipper Ronan O'Gara was replaced by James Hook at flyhalf.

And not long after that the Boks won a scrum five metres out, after the Lions were forced to carry the ball back into their own in-goal area. That scrum became a penalty to the South Africans and from right in front Rose slotted the penalty for a 6-10 score.

The Lions won a penalty, which they kicked out near the SA 22 - but neither their maul or the subsequent series of rucks made any ground and the Emerging Boks turned the ball over - snuffing out any hope of a Lions score.

At this stage the South African team also brought Willem de Waal, a clear indication that they were going to adopt a more pragmatic approach and kick for territory in the blustery conditions.

Just after the 60-minute mark the Lions were penalised twice in quick succession for offences at rucks and Rose had a shot at goal from close range. As he pulled the shot wide, the disapproving cries from the crowd rang out loudly.

And that was followed almost immediately by a host of changes on the South African side.

With just over four minutes on the clock left the referee saw a transgression by the Emerging Boks scrum, inside their own 22, and James Hook made it a seven-point game at 13-6.

With time up on the clock the Emerging Boks won a penalty, which they turned into a line-out inside the Lions 22. From there they set up a series of rucks, with quick hands exploiting the lack of defenders out wide and replacement Danwel Demas going over in the right corner.

Willem de Waal, in very blustery conditions and from the touchline landed a very difficult conversion to draw the game.

However, the manner in which his teammates celebrated and the Lions trundled towards the touchline, it was clear this was a moral victory for the South Africans.

Man of the match: The best of an ordinary bunch of Lions was fullback Keith Earls - his positional play and out of hand kicking far superior to anything the Emerging Boks produced. For the Emerging Boks Jano Vermaak showed glimpses of his class and Heini Adams was a livewire when he took over at scrumhalf in the second half. Flank Jean Deysel was great at getting turnovers and strong with the ball in hand. However, our award goes to Emerging Bok captain Dewald Potgieter, with his blond mop very prominent in every facet of play.

Moment of the match: It is simple. Willem de Waal's conversion in the 81st minute to draw the match for the South Africans.

Villain of the match: Nothing untoward or anything worthy of this award.

Scorers:

For the Emerging Springboks:
Try: Demas
Con: De Waal
Pens: Rose 2

For the British and Irish Lions:
Try: Earls
Con: O'Gara
Pens: O'Gara, Hook

Teams:

Emerging Springboks: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Luzuko Vulindlu, 13 Deon van Rensburg, 12 Morgan Newman, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Earl Rose, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Patric Cilliers, 18 Franco van der Merwe, 19 Jacques Botes, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Willem de Waal, 22 Danwel Demas.

British & Irish Lions: 15 Keith Earls, 14 Shane Williams, 13 Riki Flutey, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Ronan O'Gara (captain), 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Andy Powell, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Tim Payne
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Phil Vickery, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 David Wallace, 20 Mike Blair, 21 James Hook, 22 Ugo Monye

365

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