Highlanders snatch victory with thrilling comeback

Updated April 29, 2012 06:49:24

Otago Highlanders wiped out a 21-point deficit during the second half to pip Central Cheetahs 36-33 in a Super Rugby thriller.

The first time the New Zealand visitors led was in the final minute when replacement fly-half Chris Noakes kicked his second penalty at a silent Free State Stadium.

Highlanders won possession from the resultant kick-off, kept the ball among the forwards until the full-time hooter sounded, and replacement scrum-half Jimmy Cowan belted the ball into the main stand.

As if facing an at-times rampant South African team was not enough, the men from Dunedin were two short for several first-half minutes after hooker Andrew Hore and England flank James Haskell got yellow cards.

Cheetahs replacement fly-half Sias Ebersohn bowed his head and tried to hold back tears after the final whistle as he fluffed a simple penalty attempt just before Noakes snatched victory.

Ebersohn came off the bench on the hour mark when pivot Johan Goosen, who had contributed 18 points, was forced to retire after hurting his shoulder while scoring the Cheetahs' third try that was converted for a 30-9 advantage.

Highlanders hit back with three converted tries to draw level only to fall behind again before nerve-less Noakes slotted penalties on 72 and 80 minutes to keep his team second in the New Zealand conference and fifth overall.

"That was an unbelievable match," said Highlanders loose-head prop and skipper Jamie MacKintosh. "We were bloody awful and indisciplined until we discovered some momentum during the second half.

"I really feel for the Cheetahs, who are a great attacking side, but we felt their defence was a bit narrow so once we started getting our hands on the ball the plan was to go wide and get around them."

Cheetahs hooker and captain Adriaan Strauss found it hard to accept that his team had let a big lead slip and remain 11th on the southern hemisphere provincial championship standings, six points off the last play-off spot.

"I am so disappointed as we had chances to finish the game off when well ahead. We just were not smart enough as the Highlanders started finding space and running at us," he admitted.

Cowan scored two tries and Noakes one for Highlanders, all of which Noakes converted and he added two penalties to the three kicked by fly-half Mike Delany during the opening half which ended with Cheetahs 23-9 ahead.

Leading Super Rugby points scorer Goosen raised his season total to 145 with a try, two conversions and three penalties while Ebersohn contributed one conversion and one penalty from five attempts at goal.

Loose-head prop Coenie Oosthuizen and debutant lock Andries Ferreira scored first-half tries for the home team, whose only consolation was a bonus point for losing narrowly.

Cheetahs host struggling Australian outfit Western Force next Saturday while Highlanders travel south to Indian Ocean city Durban for a showdown with Coastal Sharks the same day.

Highlanders 36: (Tries: J Cowan 2, C Noakes. Conversions: Noakes 3. Penalties: M Delany 3, Noakes 2)

Cheetahs 33: (Tries: C Oosthuizen, A Ferreira, J Goosen. Conversions: J Goosen 2, S Ebersohn. Penalties: Goosen 3, Ebersohn)

AFP

Tags: sport, rugby-union, super-rugby, new-zealand, south-africa

First posted April 29, 2012 06:32:39

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Barbarians snatch late win over Wales

Posted June 5, 2011 06:49:00

Wales suffered last-minute heartbreak as the Barbarians clinched a late win 31-28 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

A late try at Twickenham last weekend had snatched the Barbarians an unlikely victory over England from the jaws of defeat and they followed their heroics up with another eleventh-hour show against Warren Gatland's men.

With four months until the World Cup in New Zealand, Wales were put through their paces and looked to have secured a hard-fought victory.

But the Barbarians stormed back with two late tries to deny Wales the perfect start to their World Cup build-up.

Gatland's men had trailed 19-14 at the interval despite taking the lead thanks to George North.

The Baa-Baas hit back with tries from Iosefa Tekori and Isa Nacewa before Morgan Stoddart intercepted to score, but the famous invitational club hit-back through Sergio Parisse.

Wales struck with two close-range second-half touch-downs through Mike Phillips and Aled Brew, but Mathieu Bastareaud and Isa Nacewa pounced for tries to secure a second win in as many weeks.

The Baa-Baas dominated the early exchanges but following a sustained period of possession Wales opened the scoring.

The ball was spread to the returning Henson and he fired a long pass to North for the teenager to slice through Nacewa and Doug Howlett for his third international try.

Jones added the extras to hand Wales a 7-0 lead on the 10-minute mark. But the visitors demonstrated their attacking flair with a fine try of their own on seven minutes.

Brock James intercepted Jones' short-pass and raced clear.

With Morgan Stoddart covering, the Clermont fly half slowed for support and fed Van Niekerk before the South African flicked a behind-the-back ball to Tekori to score.

James struck the upright but the visitors were soon back on the scoreboard.

Deep inside Welsh territory the Baa-Baas worked the overlap as the Dragons' defence went awol and Nacewa raced over.

James made no mistake with the conversion to hand the Baa-Baas a 12-7 lead.

Their lead lasted only a matter of minutes with Stoddart intercepting Paul Tito's pass on the right to race 60 metres and score.

Jones again added the extras to put Wales back in front at 14-12, yet the Baa-Baas went into the interval in front following a Parisse try off the back of the a dominant scrum.

Things did not start well for Wales with Aled Brew shown yellow for a high-tackle within minutes of the restart.

Then Tekori quickly followed Brew to the sin-bin for a professional foul as Wales pressed.

Gatland's men continued to heap the pressure on with only the wily Welsh veteran Martyn Williams keeping his compatriots out.

Wales restored their lead on the 53rd minute when Phillips drove over from close-range.

Jones was again on target with the boot to hand Wales a slender 21-19 lead.

And they landed the decisive blow on the 65th minute when Brew crashed through Iestyn Thomas to touch-down.

Again, in his last action of the game, centurion Jones nailed the conversion to put Wales in a 28-19 lead.

Wales could have quickly added to that following a searing break from Jon Davies but he failed to find Toby Faletau in support.

With less than 10-minutes to go, former NRL star Willie Mason demonstrated why Toulon fought to sign him. He created a moment of magic to release Thomas who in turn released Bastareaud.

James failed with the conversion but with the final play of the game Nacewa raced clear for a second try to steal the win and James slotted the extras.

- AFP

Tags: sport, rugby-union, united-kingdom, wales

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