Last-minute penalty sinks Bulls
FLYHALF Lima Sopoaga nailed a last-minute penalty to hand the Highlanders a narrow 29-28 victory over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday and secure a sixth win in eight Super Rugby games this year.
His long-range penalty crept over for a dramatic last-gasp win in a game where the Highlanders were nine points ahead going into the last 20 minutes, but had to come from behind in the closing stages to snatch victory.
Sopoaga did not miss with any of his kicks to contribute 19 points.
“It could have gone either way, it’s a tough place to play,” Highlanders captain Ben Smith said.
Bulls skipper Burger Odendaal was encouraged, despite the team having missed a bonus point.
“Our forwards were superb, especially at scrum time. There were a lot of good points,” he said.
The Highlanders made a bright start when Aaron Smith chased down a kick to go over inside the opening five minutes.
The Bulls were level after being awarded a penalty try in the 23rd minute when Fletcher Smith tackled Warrick Gelant chasing a kick.
An intercept try from flyhalf Handre Pollard allowed the hosts to go ahead for the first time in the match on the half-hour mark, but a Sopoaga penalty reduced the halftime score to 14-10. He slotted another over just after the interval.
The Highlanders went back in front when the three Smiths – Aaron, Ben and Fletcher – put together a smart interchange of passes for Fletcher to go over.
Sopoaga kept up his accurate kicking to stretch the lead to 23-14, but just before the hour mark Bulls prop Lizo Gqoboka burst through to set up a try for Jason Jenkins.
The altitude left the Highlanders exhausted with a 26-21 lead in the last 10 minutes.
In the 75th minute, Pollard popped Jesse Kriel into space and he went over to level. Pollard converted and it was 28-26, until that last-minute downfall. – Reuters