Stephen Donald kicked a last-gasp penalty to earn the Waikato Chiefs a 19-18 win over the Sharks in the Super 14 on Saturday.
The match had been a sterile affair with heavy rain reducing it to a battle of the boot.
However, the game exploded into life in the last three minutes with the lead changing hands three times after the Sharks were reduced to 14 men following the sin-binning of hooker Bismarck du Plessis for a shoulder charge.
PHOTO: REUTERS
With the Sharks holding a 15-9 lead, Chiefs center Jackson Willison crashed over in the corner in the 77th minute.
Flyhalf Donald then booted a difficult conversion to send last year’s beaten finalists into a one-point lead.
From the kickoff the Chiefs were penalized for obstruction and scrumhalf Rory Kockott slotted his sixth penalty as the home side took the lead.
The Chiefs threw everything into attack and were rewarded when Kockott was caught offside at a ruck in front of the posts, Donald making no mistake with his kick as the New Zealanders celebrated a nail-biting victory.
Meanwhile, fullback Joe Pietersen scored 21 points as Western Stormers opened their Super 14 campaign with a 26-13 away win over Golden Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Two tries shortly before half-time broke the resistance of the Lions after the Stormers had dominated possession during the first half hour of the all-South African clash.
Leading 26-6 at the break, the Western Cape side looked set for a comfortable win. But the inexperienced Lions team, who started with four Super 14 debutants, came back strongly in the second half as the Stormers wilted on a hot afternoon on a yielding pitch.
The Lions made four changes at half-time and injected more pace and urgency into their game.
Earl Rose moved up from fullback to take Spencer’s place at pivot and he and substitute scrumhalf Jacques Coetzee operated well behind a resurgent Lions pack. But the home side were only able to break through once, when substitute fullback Michael Killian crossed for a try.
Springbok stars Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie, both making their first appearance for the Stormers, showed they would add penetration to the team’s backline
Wing Habana put Pietersen away for the first try after 34 minutes with a perfectly timed pass after he had made space on attack, while centre Fourie burst through to score against his former team four minutes later after a quick pass from scrum-half Dewaldt Duvenhage.
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