Marty Banks kicks late penalty as Highlanders stun the Chiefs in Super Rugby
Last Updated: 06/03/15 11:57am
The Chiefs slumped to a shock 20-17 defeat against the Highlanders after Sonny Bill Williams conceded a last-minute penalty.
The Chiefs, who had won their opening three Super Rugby fixtures, dominated possession and territory at Waikato Stadium but failed to make it count.
Instead, they succumbed to a sucker punch when Williams infringed on the ruck in the final minute, allowing rookie fly-half Marty Banks to kick the winning penalty as the siren sounded.
The Highlanders barely touched the ball in the opening stages as the Chiefs ran rings around them, only for handling errors to halt momentum when the hosts threatened the tryline.
Instead it was 3-3 after 20 minutes, with Aaron Cruden squandering the chance to give his team a handy lead when he kicked two penalties wide.
The Highlanders clawed their way back into the game, with centre Malakai Fekitoa besting his All Blacks rival Williams at the breakdown.
But it was another centre, unheralded Highlander Shaun Treeby, who made the first clean break of the match to set up Patrick Osborne for the opening try.
A Lima Sopoaga penalty saw the Highlanders lead 14-3 at the interval, despite the Chiefs enjoying 78 per cent of territory.
The Chiefs thought they had crossed soon after the restart but Sam Cane's effort was ruled held up. However, their dominance then finally began to reap rewards with two penalty ties in the space of 10 minutes as the Highlanders failed first to deal with the Chiefs' driving maul, and then the scrum.
A Banks penalty levelled the scores at 17-17 against the run of play with three minutes to go, and in a dramatic finale, Chiefs winger James Lowe was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on Fekitoa before Williams conceded a penalty in front of the posts.
Banks showed no nerves as he stepped up to seal the win.