Another poor display by the midweek team confirmed that Lions coach Ian McGeechan has few real alternatives to last weekend’s beaten Test team in Durban.

Very few members of the Lions team which could only manage a scrambled 13-13 draw with the Emerging Springboks at a cold, windy Newlands last night made a convincing case for a Test place.

True, conditions were dreadful with heavy, squally showers soaking the ground. But the Lions had enough possession to control two games yet never did anything much with it. They made numerous mistakes, looked plodding and predictable and could not shake off the courageous Emerging Springboks.

Their last minute try, from replacement wing Danwel Demas, was converted magnificently from touch by Willem de Waal to tie the scores and put a major dent in the Lions morale as they head for Loftus and their must win Test.

McGeechan will have been desperately disappointed that no-one really managed to rise above the general scramble and assert any authority. Skipper Ronan O’Gara was pulled off five minutes into the second half which suggested he may be in line for a starting place in Saturday’s Test. Flanker Martyn Williams worked hard in his usual way but rarely stood out convincingly.

The Lions needed the likes of Nathan Hines, Andy Powell and Shane Williams to step up to the challenge but they barely managed anything above the mediocre. Once again, there was little cohesion or penetration to the Lions game and too much of their ball was hopelessly slow, giving them few chances of making decisive breaks. Even when they did, they could not finish, Keith Earls’ first half try excepted.

Scrum half Harry Ellis, who might have been playing for a Test place, was gritty and determined but little better than ordinary and took far too long to clear the ball.

The atmosphere of a Test match will surely energise these Lions. But, as in Durban, it seems likely that so much will fall on the shoulders of centres Brian O’Driscoll and Jamie Roberts. If the Springboks can contain that duo, the Lions seem to have little else of real quality in their locker.

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers will have been greatly encouraged by the evidence of this final Lions midweek game. As before, he will have spied a weakness in finishing power and an inability to play the game at a pace demanded by professional rugby. Most of the Lions play last night revolved around driving off rucks and mauls and trying to out muscle their opponents. We know that is not good enough to overcome the powerful Springboks but these Lions do not appear to have much else available as a ‘go to’ tactic.

Truly, the poverty of rugby in the northern hemisphere is increasingly being exposed on this trip.

From the comparative comfort of an 18-9 lead, these Lions again stuttered and stumbled in a thoroughly unconvincing way. True, the Lions outscored Province by three tries to one. But their continuing tendency to give away constant penalties puts a serious question mark against their ability to live with the Springboks.

With time running out and the 1^st Test just a week away, you’d  have thought Ian McGeechan’s men would have found another gear at Newlands, moving smoothly onto a level of performance which would have crushed a weakened Western Province challenge.

But these Lions continue to look at best modest, at worst pretty ordinary. They never learn at the breakdown, being penalised time and again by Mark Lawrence for elementary offences like handling in the ruck, diving off their feet at the breakdown and going in at the side. How international players can continue committing such absurd, amateurish errors is beyond me.

Again, the Lions dominated possession, winning more than 70% for long periods of the game. Yet again all that came to nothing because the Lions badly lacked composure, accuracy and precision in their play.

We are surely faced with the stark truth. There may, just, be 15 quality players in this Lions squad and when they are in the same team, the Lions might have a hope in the Test series. But without key performers like Brian O’Driscoll, Jamie Roberts,  Mike Phillips, Lee Byrne, Phil Vickery, Tom Croft and Paul O’Connell,  this Lions squad looks desperately thin on real quality.

The one player who stood out yesterday was Irish wing Tommy Bowe, who has surely nailed down the Test No. 14 jersey. The Ulsterman scored a superb try, finishing off the Lions best move of the match, and he then made a second try for fellow wing Ugo Monye, with a clever step, punishing run to break the defensive line and a gorgeously soft, well-timed off-load to send Monye clear.

That sort of class was notoriously absent from the Lions play for most of the remainder of the game. They were guilty of turning over possession, losing control of the ball and lacking the type of dynamism to be expected of Lions teams. Far, far too often, the lack of pinpoint accuracy in passing meant that players coming onto the ball had to check to take it.

This is elementary stuff, the basics that you teach kids. There were some players, lock Nathan Hines and fly half  Stephen Jones among them, who understood the need to offload in the tackle to maintain continuity.  But too many players continued to go to ground, and with their breakdown work again largely unimpressive despite the efforts of Martyn Williams, the Lions suffered as a consequence.

Teams hoping to beat the world champions in seven days time surely ought to be able to swat aside with arrogance and complete conviction the challenge of a provincial side missing a host of top players. It has to be a cause for huge concern that these Lions just couldn’t do that.

Province fly half William de Waal punished the tourists for their frequent errors by kicking four penalty goals and a drop. He was short with a late drop goal which would almost certainly have snatched a draw.

Western Province should be proud of themselves for a hugely creditable effort. But the fact that they kept in touch on the scoreboard chiefly through the Lions technical mistakes ought to alarm the Lions management.

The tour moves on, to Port Elizabeth and then Durban for Saturday’s 1^st Test.  Frankly, at this stage, the Lions don’t look anywhere near ready for that challenge and nowhere near good enough. But perhaps they can pull a rabbit from the hat this week to turnaround this tour. They certainly need something dramatic.