With eight minutes to go and just five points separating the two sides in this see-saw spectacle, a place in the World Rugby Classic final was very much up for grabs.

The Lions were just a score behind and their tactic to counteract the dangerous speed of the Springbok backs by playing tight, controlled rugby was paying off.

They were pushing hard with their forwards, squeezing every inch of field position out of every ruck and maul and desperately trying to puncture the South African defence.

But despite the Lions' territorial dominance, there was always the danger of breakaways and, to the delight of a crowd who had endured a pre-game soaking courtesy of the Classic's first rains, they came hard and fast from the defending champions who earned themselves a flattering scoreline with late tries from Charl Marais and John Assor ? who rounded off his score with a somersault.

South Africa were probably worthy winners, their side ? featuring just one Currie Cup player in the hulking form of Naka Drotske ? maybe isn't quite as strong as Francois Pienaar's all-conquering squad from last year, but they have attacking weapons aplenty and the ability to deploy them at vital times.

And with the rain still persisting down, the first salvo was fired when Rassie Erasmus, a Currie Cup coach this past year, crossed within the opening two minutes, although the tent-bound crowds weren't yet brave enough to witness the score.

By the time Dave Scully had replied seven minutes later ? with Derek McAleese adding the extras to put the Lions 7-5 ahead ? the bleachers were filling up again and beginning to enjoy what was probably the cleanest and highest-quality encounter of the tournament so far.

A classic Classic Springbok try was then scored with eight minutes left in the half, the full 4,000 spectators able to enjoy a break by Jacques Jonker ? who appears to have taken over from Jan Harm van Wyk as Mr. Catch Me If You Can this year ? who flipped it over to Deon Kayser to touch down.

Andries Fourie, with another incredible performance at fullback, converted to leave the tournament favourites 12-7 up at the break.

After the interval, the Lions' share of possession was the greater but they couldn't quite convert that dominance which was always going to leave opportunities for the Springboks.

But after some scintillating half-breaks from both sides and a long spell where the ball refused to go out of play much to the delight of the screaming hordes packing the bleachers on both sides of the National Sports Centre, the game was put out of reach by Marais.

With eight minutes left, Fourie, unsurprisingly, kicked the ball through and Marais, a portly, hulking figure who is more wildebeest than Springbok, lumbered after the ball, hacked on just shy of the line before falling on it with somewhat of a bellyflop to just get the downward pressure needed ahead of a pouncing Lions' last-ditch lunge.

The missed conversion mattered little at 17-7, a point emphasised when Assor took advantage of some Keystone Cops defence from the Lions.

Those attending tomorrow night's gala banquet will be hoping Kenny Logan's speech is better than his ball-handling skills, and he certainly didn't look like he was worth 70 caps for Scotland when he made a dog's dinner of an attempt to pick up a kick through.

Assor was on hand to scoop up the loose ball and dive over the line to seal his side's place in the final ? a Dale McIntosh score after 57 minutes was scant consolation for the Brits.

"We knew it was going to be tough but we were pleased with the way we worked the ball out wide," said Assor, who admits his somersault was his first such artistic score.

"When you are champions, everyone is firing for you and the Lions went hard at us tonight. But we worked hard and we did what we had to do.

"It wasn't our best performance and we are not so happy with that and we know whoever we face it is going to be a tough final ? that's what happens when you are the defending champs."

McAleese, for the Lions, was frustrated in defeat, longing for the glory days of his side to come again.

"We worked hard at what we were trying to do, keeping the ball, playing solidly and trying to contain their speed," he said afterwards, making the point that his side were intent now on drowning their sorrows for their final few days in Bermuda.

"We could see they weren't as good as last year but they had just enough. It is hard for our guys coming from all over Britain and not always having played together before. It has been too long since we last won this."

In the night's other match, Canada notched their first points of the Classic in the Plate semi-final but were still well beaten, going down 33-19 to the US.

Their 'prize' for two consecutive defeats is a clash with Bermuda in the curtain-raiser on Saturday's finals day.

Tonight sees New Zealand take on France in the Plate at 7 p.m. while Australia will have their work cut out against a dominant Pumas side in the showpiece game at 8.30 p.m.