Waratahs snatch last minute victory in Hamilton
April 9, 2000

The Waratahs kept their season alive by beating the luckless Chiefs this afternoon, 37-30.

In atrocious conditions, the Waratahs made good a seven point deficit, scoring two tries in the last three minutes , to deny the Chiefs what looked likely to be a hard-earned victory.

The Waratahs started the more strongly, adapting better to the tricky conditions, a converted Strauss try giving them the early advantage. The Chiefs took control of the middle part of the game as they adjusted their tactics to play to their strengths. Tries from Tukino and Crichton, the latter a gem, plus a Crichton penalty gave the home side a good seven point lead . The Waratahs struck back at the end of the half , as they were to do forty minutes later, with a converted try by Staniforth and a Burke penalty. This gave them an edge at half time, 17-16.

The second half followed a similar pattern. Two more Burke penalties extended the Waratahs' lead until the Chiefs again took control. A converted try by Reihana and a penalty try, converted by Jackson, looked to be enough to give the Chiefs maximum points, but the Waratahs refused to give up. A Welborn try , magnificently converted from the touch line by Matthew Burke, tied the scores and , unbelievably, David Lyons scored the winning points with the game's last play.

The Waratahs showed commendable fighting qualities to take 5 points and keep themselves in touch with the top four.The Chiefs take 2 bonus points, but they were desperately unfortunate not to come away with the win.

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