The Lions, storm-tossed and wind-blown, completed the provincial games of their tour unbeaten at Newlands last night, but this will feel like a defeat.

Coming on top of the loss last Saturday to South Africa in the first international, the final kick of the game earned the Emerging Springboks a draw that they thoroughly deserved.

It fell, aptly enough, to the local man, Willem de Waal. The fly half knows all the troughs and eddies of his home ground and he guided the conversion of Danwel Demas’s try from the right-hand touchline through the rain and through the posts. He had been on the field no more than 27 minutes and Demas no more than seven, but their combination snatched the game from the Lions.

They could not complain. From looking the dominant side in the first quarter, capable of lifting the spirits of the whole party before the second international in Pretoria on Saturday, they fell away dramatically. Admittedly the conditions were difficult — a slippery surface and a ball difficult to handle — but nothing worse than you might see in Thomond Park, Arms Park, Adams Park or any other park in Britain or Ireland that you care to mention.

“It was a game we had to get out of the way, but it was a million miles away from what we want at the weekend," Ian McGeechan, the head coach, said. "It’s not damaging for Saturday, we know what we want to do and how we want to play.”

Those hoping to make a late charge for selection could only curse as those hopes died. Keith Earls did all that one young man could do, but he is not in contention; Ronan O’Gara missed his first kick at goal, a straightforward penalty from 24 metres in front of the posts, but placed some clever tactical kicks before James Hook replaced him in what looked, for all the world, like a trial game for the two fly halves.

But by the time that Hook appeared, the momentum had swung to the Emerging Springboks, a side who have claimed two successive IRB Nations Cup titles in Europe, but play only irregularly.

They had, though, three days in training with their seniors and clearly the locks, Steven Sykes and Wilhelm Steenkamp, had enjoyed mixing with Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha.

The Lions could make little impression on the lineout and, although they settled into their work at the scrums, it took them all of the first half to do so. Since last night’s starting props had joined the party only within the past four days, that may not be a great surprise, but John Hayes is Ireland’s most-capped player and Tim Payne fresh from England’s end-of-season tour, they were so much more experienced than their uncapped rivals.

Nor was there any obvious sign that the Lions will be able to maul their way out of trouble in the two internationals left on this trip. That was the game: close control and avoid a capricious wind. But even when they gathered themselves for the effort, they were held with relative ease, so it was left to the backs to make what they could of the conditions.

The best of the bunch was Luke Fitzgerald and one’s heart bled for Shane Williams, on the other wing. The ball simply has not run for him on this tour, nor did it here when he so wanted to press his case for an international jersey; even when Ugo Monye swapped wings so that Williams could play on the left, play inevitably headed for the right-hand corner and the Welshman’s best work came in defence, a wonderful mark from a wicked box kick by Jan Vermaak.

O’Gara knocked over a close-range penalty after a series of breaks by Earls, Riki Flutey and Fitzgerald and when Zane Kirchner directed a kick straight into Flutey’s hands some 35 metres out, it seemed harder for the centre not to score. But he did not trust his pace and it took a couple more phases before Earls dodged his way over near the posts.

Earl Rose, of whom so much was expected by the Emerging Springboks, missed a long-range penalty, then kicked one from 20 metres. He added a second when the Lions fell offside but missed once more after moving to full back to accommodate De Waal. The Lions roused themselves in the final quarter, Hook doing his best to manufacture a way through and, when the home front row went down, he kicked the penalty that ensured the Lions would not lose.

But they did not win either. Duane Vermeulen won a lineout eight metres from the Lions line; a couple of drives and De Waal tossed an overhead pass to Demas, who romped over. The roar for the conversion could be heard in the heart of Cape Town.

Scorers: Emerging Springboks: Try: Demas (80min). Conversion: De Waal. Penalty goals: Rose 2 (37, 50). Lions: Try: Earls (15). Conversion: O’Gara. Penalty goals: O’Gara (9), Hook (76).
Scoring sequence (Emerging Springboks first): 0-3, 0-10, 3-10 (half-time), 6-10, 6-13, 13-13.
Emerging Springboks: Z Kirchner (Bulls); L Vulindlu (Sharks), D van Rensburg (Leopards; rep: W de Waal, Stormers, 53), M Newman (Stormers), B Basson (Griquas; rep: D Demas, Cheetahs, 73); E Rose (Golden Lions), J Vermaak (Golden Lions; rep: H Adams, Bulls, 64); W du Preez (Cheetahs; rep: P Cilliers, Sharks, 64), B Maku (Bulls; rep: T Liebenberg, Stormers, 53), W Kruger (Bulls), S Sykes (Sharks; rep: F van der Merwe, Golden Lions, 64), W Steenkamp (Bulls), D Potgieter (Bulls), J Deysel (Sharks; rep: J Botes, Sharks, 64), D Vermeulen (Stormers).
Lions: K Earls (Munster); S Williams (Ospreys), R Flutey (London Wasps), G D’Arcy (Leinster), L Fitzgerald (Leinster; rep: U Monye, Harlequins, 65); R O’Gara (Munster; rep: J Hook, Ospreys, 45), H Ellis (Leicester); T Payne (London Wasps), R Ford (Edinburgh; rep: L Mears, Bath, 75), J Hayes (Munster; rep: P Vickery, London Waps, 67), D O’Callaghan (Munster), N Hines (Perpignan; rep: S Shaw, London Wasps, 57), J Worsley (London Wasps), M Williams (Cardiff Blues), A Powell (Cardiff Blues; rep: D Wallace, Munster, 68).
Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).