Heartbreak for Highlanders

A late Christian Lealiifano drop-goal gave the Brumbies a dramatic 33-31 victory over the Highlanders in the opening Super 14 game of the year.

In a nine-try thriller, the Highlanders led 19-0 and then trailed 30-19 into the second-half before coming back to lead 31-30 with three minutes remaining.

It may have been a bad case of deja vu for the Highlanders, but they clearly sent a message of intent to their critics and Super 14 opponents for the 2009 season.

Shock

It certainly was not a polished performance from the home side with basic errors creeping in more often than not and their defence was ordinary, but the areas they did get right with ball in hand looked very promising indeed.

In the week leading up to the game, vice-captain Jamie Mackintosh stressed how important a good start would be for his team against a side as dangerous as the Brumbies.

Needless to say, the All Black prop got his wish, but no one could have predicted three brilliant tries in 20 minutes that had the Highlanders faithful on their feet and left their visitors shell-shocked.

Jason Shoemark, Fetu'u Vainikolo and Daniel Bowden were the men to score the tries and at that stage it looked like there could only be one winner.

Comeback

But credit must go to the Brumbies for producing a match-winning comeback that would have sent shivers down the Carisbrook crowd on the evening of Friday the 13th.

Thirty unanswered points from Stephen Hoiles' troops took the wind out of the Highlanders' sails, as Stirling Mortlock scored two tries and Adam Ashley-Cooper and Mark Gerrard bagged one apiece.

But the home side tried desperately to keep themselves afloat and salvage themselves a consolation bonus point.

Their never-say-die attitude paid off and they not only got themselves a four-try bonus score through Chris King's score, they also snatched the lead thanks to replacement hooker Jason Rutledge three minutes from time.

However, Bowden's missed conversion to what seemed likely to be the winning try for the Highlanders proved costly and set up a nail-biting finish as Lealiifano stepped up to clinch a thriller.

The Brumbies gain five points from this match and the Highlanders take two bonus points in what was a fitting opener to the new Super 14 season.