It was the kind of stuff not even a Hollywood scriptwriter would have been able to conjure up as Jordan Hendrikse kicked a last gasp 59 metre penalty to clinch the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV a 16-14 win in a dramatic Carling Currie Cup final against the Fidelity ADT Lions.
Just a few months ago Hendrikse was an Emirates Lions player and the venue for the final, Emirates Airlines Park, was his home ground and the people in the stands were supporting him.
This time he was a member of the opposition, on the day that his former team were playing their first final in five years, and it was he who pointed at the posts when a penalty was awarded near the Sharks 10 metre line with the clock having already been in the red for three minutes.
It was going to be the last act of the game, his new team were trailing 14-13, and had he been short or wide, the Lions were going to be the winners and the Sharks the losers.
Not many players can kick one metre short of 60 metres, but apparently Hendrikse had been kicking them in the pre-match warmup.
That was no guarantee he would succeed under the acute pressure he was facing down, but he did - the ball just snuck over the cross bar, the flags were raised, and the Lions, who lost only one league game this season, and that was to the Sharks, were beaten at the death.
They should maybe be kicking themselves for their game management in the final play that led to the penalty. They won the lineout after the hooter had sounded and just needed to take the ball out, but instead played it and the ball ended up in Sharks hands and it was from the final desperate attempt to run from their own half that the Sharks’ penalty and winning opportunity came.
It looked five minutes before that the Lions had stolen the game when big Siba Qoma drove over near the posts and Sanele Nohamba kicked the conversion as the Lions turned a 13-7 deficit into a one-point lead.
A Siya Masuku penalty had edged the Sharks ahead with 15 minutes to go with a penalty kick and then there was a long-range effort from Hendrikse, not quite as long as the long one that won the game, to put the Sharks six points ahead. In a game played in wet conditions, six points was a bigger lead than on a dry day, but the Lions still had something left in the tank and full marks to them for the way they hung in during a game that the Sharks dominated in most aspects of play.
One of the famous anecdotal memories of Natal winning the Currie Cup for the first time in their 100th year In Pretoria in 1990 was what happened the next day - some fans of what were then known as the Banana Boys erected a sign near the Free State/Natal border that welcomed visitors to “Currie Cup country”.
By all accounts, if someone was to do that today, the words might be inscribed on a snowman, for the N3 was reportedly blocked by snow on the day of a game that was played in chilly 5-degree conditions made to feel colder no doubt by the light rain that fell.
Just how many Durbanites were intending to get to Emirates Airlines Park for this repeat of the tight 1992 final is hard to tell, but those who did miss it missed quite a game despite the conditions.
ESTERHUIZEN WAS IMMENSE
It was a day where established heroes showed us why they are highly rated. In this sense, take a bow Andre Esterhuizen, the Springbok centre who has missed out on a game for the national team since he was red carded early in the Test match against Portugal in Bloemfontein on 20 July.
However, his non-appearance in the Bok playing team has been a definite massive gain for the Sharks, and if he remains sidelined by Rassie Erasmus he will continue to be so as the Sharks go into the important ultra-marathon type league that is the Vodacom Unite Durbgy Championship with a tough away game against Connacht in Galway next Saturday.
Esterhuizen, who has returned to the Sharks after a few seasons at the London club, Harlequins, is a giant of a man for an inside centre and he has pace and power too. He underlined what a good value buy he is for the Sharks by being massive with his carries and eating considerably more metres than any other player on the field.
It was also though a day for the new heroes that are emerging across the board in South African rugby, and take a bow Ethan Hooker, the 21-year-old centre and old boy of Westville Boys High who was converted to the wing by Plumtree a few weeks back just to see how he would go there. He certainly has the pace, which we saw when he ran off another scything Esterhuizen run in at the corner for the first try of the game after 52 minutes.
Those were in fact the first points of the game, with the teams going to the break at 0-all after an action packed first half where the Sharks enjoyed 68 percent territorial advantage and a similar advantage when it came to possession.
The Lions had a new hero in their ranks, and that was Jurenzo du Plessis, who has been one of the finds of the Currie Cup season, and the openside flanker can be credited with almost singlehandedly keeping the Sharks at bay with some of his phenomenal rips, his indefatigable work rate that saw him finish as the top Lions player both when it came to carries and to tackles.
The Lions showed their will to win by striking back from the Hooker try within four minutes, with energetic scrumhalf Nico Steyn sliding over from a quick tap and Nohamba levelled the scores with the conversion.
Late in the game, when they did it again by striking back from a deficit, it looked as though the Lions, so brave for so long, had weathered the storm and were going to prevail. However, the Sharks, after a few seasons where they had established a losing habit, have now got the opposite, and are becoming renowned for their ability to find a way to win. Which was what they did in this match.
Fortunately, they are taking the trophy home by air, for they wouldn't get it back by road.
Scores
Hollywoodbets Sharks 16 - Try: Ethan Hooker; Conversion: Siya Masuku; Penalties: Siya Masuku and Jordan Hendrikse 2.
Fidelity ADT Lions 14 - Tries: Nico Steyn and Siba Qoma; Conversions: Sanele Nohamba