The DHL Stormers Bolts fought back to claim a thrilling 40-38 win against the previously unbeaten Vodacom Bulls U20 at City Park on Saturday.
The match appeared to have ended in a draw, as reflected in the broadcast, but one of the Vodacom Bulls U20 conversions in the first half which had been awarded by the assistant referees was ruled to have missed by the referee.
As a result the last-minute touchline conversion from scrumhalf Jayden Brits was the winning kick in what had been an extraordinary match of two halves, with the wind in Athlone having a big say.
Both teams scored five of their six tries on the day when playing with the strong wind at their backs.
The visitors struck first, but the DHL Stormers Bolts were back level at 7-7 soon afterwards as a maul was brought down illegally over the line, resulting in a penalty try.
The Pretoria side took the lead back with a maul try of their own and they followed that up with a period of sustained dominance which saw them score out wide and make it 19-7 after 30 minutes.
They wrapped up their bonus point just before half-time, scoring two more tries to take a 31-7 advantage into the break.
The home side had the wind in the second half and did not waste time taking advantage as flank Gert Kemp scored early in the second half.
The visitors responded with a try before the DHL Stormers Bolts took control of both territory and possession. Replacement loose forward Quintin Potgieter scored the next try, but they were still down 38-19 with 10 minutes left.
Replacement scrumhalf Tyrone Gombe scored two tries in quick succession to secure two bonus points and they threw absolutely everything into finding the winning try, with Potgieter grabbing his double before Brits slotted the touchline conversion toclaim the win.
The scorers:
For DHL Stormers Bolts:
Tries: Penalty try, Kemp, Potgieter 2, Gombe 2
Cons: Brits 4
DHL Stormers Bolts: 15 Dylan Miller, 14 Jack Benade, 13 Luca Potgieter, 12 Randall-John Davids, 11 Meyer Prinsloo, 10 Dawid Badenhorst, 9 Jayden Brits, 8 Aden da Costa (captain), 7 Gert Kemp, 6 Wihan Kotze, 5 Dominic Sesink-Clee, 4 Tom Barnard, 3 Danie Kruger, 2 Altus Rabe, 1 Zak Hickman.
Replacements: 16 Almero Keizer, 17 Unaye Mndau, 18 Lukho Mtwana, 19 Zander van Zyl, 20 Alexander Smith, 21 Quintin Potgieter, 22 Tyrone Gombe, 23 Kobus Blankenberg.
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Benni McCarthy: Hailing from Hanover Park on the Cape Flats, Benni McCarthy is South Africa’s all-time leading goal scorer for the national football team, Bafana Bafana. He made European football history in 2004 as the only South African to win the UEFA Champions League (with FC Porto under José Mourinho) before taking high-profile coaching roles domestically and internationally.
