Natal Sharks scored a last-minute try to beat Otago Highlanders 36-35 in their Super 12 match at Carisbrook in Dunedin on Friday.
Scrumhalf Craig Davidson scored the try, which Butch James converted from in front of the posts to win a match the Highlanders had been leading 32-15 with 20 minutes to play.
Davidson, the villain of the piece last week when he was sin-binned during the Sharks’ 23-20 loss to the Brumbies, scored the last two of five tries.
James, Brent Russell and Trevor Halstead scored the other tries and James converted four and kicked a penalty.
Yet it had been all Highlanders from the kick-off.
Number eight Grant Webb went over in the third minute after the Highlanders stole the Sharks’ lineout ball and hooker and captain Anton Oliver’s score on the half-hour enabled the Highlanders to establish a 15-5 half-time lead.
Scrumhalf Ben Hurst and winger Hayden Pedersen gave the Highlanders a handy 32-15 lead after flyhalf Tony Brown converted three tries and kicked three penalties.
However, the Sharks refused to lose heart and fullback Brent Russell raced 70m through the Highlander defence for one of the most exciting tries of the competition so far.
”That was the inspiring piece of play for us,” Sharks captain John Smit said. — Sapa-AFP