South Africa storms past Wellington
Posted: Sunday March 07, 1999 01:34 PM
WELLINGTON (Reuters) -- South Africa's Stormers came from 19-5 down at halftime to beat the Wellington Hurricanes 24-22 in a cracking Super 12 championship game in Wellington on Sunday.
The Hurricanes had a chance to snatch victory with the last kick of the game, but David Holwell missed a penalty attempt from 35 meters straight in front of the posts to give the game to the Stormers.
The match was notable for the two squads of backs going hammer and tongs from the opening whistle. It was the Hurricanes who made the early running, moving to a 19-0 lead within 32 minutes with tries from Alex Telea, who picked up a loose ball after an up-and-under and ran 35 meters to score, and big hooker Davin Heaps, who was on the end of an expansive Wellington backline to go over in the corner.
Holwell increased the pain, slotting over three penalty goals and the South Africans seemed to have no answer to the gale force Hurricanes.
It took a bit of individual brilliance from Pieter Rossouw on the Stormers' left-wing to give the South Africans their first score. He took on the Hurricanes' defense and beat two defenders on the touch line to crash over near the corner.
The second half was a different story. Two early penalty goals from Braam van Straaten brought the score to 19-11 before Holwell gave the Hurricanes' their only points in the second half with a penalty in the 51st minute.
Prop Charl Marais brought the Stormers to within seven points with a try in the 55th minute, leaving the Hurricanes' game with a static look as they looked down the barrel of a great Stormers' comeback.
Van Straaten kicked another penalty to make it 22-19 and then, with the Hurricanes' defense stretched after the sin-binning of center Reuben Parkinson for a wild late tackle on Breyton Paulse, the Stormers struck with another try through replacement loose forward Anton Leonard. Van Straaten missed the conversion to leave the score tantalizingly close.
The excitement continued to the final whistle. The game was in injury time when one of the Stormers was judged offside in a ruck, giving Holwell a chance a penalty and the chance to win the game.
Kicking from in front of the posts into a tricky southerly wind, the ball initially looked on target but drifted to the left, much to the consternation of the unfortunate Holwell and the 20,000 crowd and the relief of the Stormers.
Teams:
- Wellington Hurricanes - 15-Christian Cullen, 14-Glen Osborne, 13-Reuben Parkinson, 12-Jason O'Halloran, 11-Tana Umaga, 10-David Holwell, 9-Ofisa Tonu'u, 8-Filo Tiatia, 7-Kupu Vanisi, 6-Andrew Blowers, 5-Mark Cooksley (20-Inoke Afeaki), 4-Dion Waller, 3-Gordon Slater, 2-Davin Heaps (22-Norm Hewitt), 1-Stu Loe (21-Mike Edwards).
- The Stormers - 15-Percy Montgomery (16-Rob Markram), 14-Pieter Rossouw, 13-Robbie Fleck, 12-Breyton Paulse, 11-Andy Marinos, 10-Braam van Straaten, 9-Dan van Zyl (19-Joggie Viljoen), 8-Bobby Skinstad (captain), 7-Looedwyk Hattingh (19-Anton Leonard), 6-John Trytsman, 5-Hottie Louw, 4-Robbie Brink, 3-Cobus Visagie, 2-Charl Marais, 1-Robbie Kempson.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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