A dramatic 82nd-minute try by Sio Tomkinson capped a thrilling second-half Otago Highlanders fightback as they snatched a 33-31 Super Rugby Aotearoa victory over the Waikato Chiefs in Hamilton yesterday.
A dejected Chiefs captain Sam Cane said it was like “trying to hold back a wave” as the Highlanders, down 31-7 early in the second half, stormed home with four unanswered tries.
It was the second win for the Highlanders in the competition, both against the winless Chiefs, whose coach, Warren Gatland, has now presided over five straight defeats.
The Chiefs raced into a 24-0 lead after 20 minutes with three converted tries and a penalty, aided by a string of mistakes from the visitors.
The Chiefs had a 24-7 cushion at halftime and extended the lead to 31-7 with another try soon after the restart before the Highlanders clicked and clawed their way back.
Highlanders captain Ash Dixon said there were stern words at halftime to cut their unforced errors.
“In that first half we were well off the pace and the Chiefs came out really well and we couldn’t contain them and gave away a lot of silly penalties, but once we got to the right end of the field and played a bit of ball things happened,” Dixon said.
Cane said that the Chiefs had enough opportunities to win, but let themselves down.
“It certainly hurts to lose one at the death like that. We had the win in our grasp and we’re pretty disappointed,” he said.
The opening burst from the Chiefs produced tries to Lachlan Boshier and Anton Lienert-Brown, capitalizing on an ineffectual defense, while hooker Bradley Slater found the line from a lineout drive.
Damian McKenzie landed all three conversions and a penalty to give the Chiefs a solid buffer before the Highlanders moved the scoreboard with a try to Marino Mikaele-Tu’u.
Slater scored his second try, again from a lineout drive, two minutes into the second half to have the Chiefs ahead 31-7.
However, they could not hold back the determined Highlanders, who were fired up by All Blacks scrumhalf Aaron Smith, who featured in all four of their second-half tries, scoring one himself.
Mitch Hunt and Jona Nareki also touched down before Tomkinson’s dart to the line for a try from Smith’s precision pass leveled the scores 31-31.
Hunt converted from almost in front of the posts to complete the comeback with the Highlanders scoring 26 unanswered second-half points.
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