Man of the moment Israel Folau kept the NSW Waratahs’ Super Rugby finals hopes alive with a desperate last-gasp try against the Stormers on Saturday night.
The stingy Stormers threatened to suffocate Folau and his Waratahs teammates until the classy code hopper crossed three minutes from fulltime to clinch a tense 21-15 victory at Allianz Stadium.
Folau has now bagged seven tries in 11 games since switching codes and continues to make an irresistible claim for a Wallabies debut against the British and Irish Lions next month.
Test star Berrick Barnes was another hero for the Waratahs after making his comeback from wrist surgery with 17 minutes remaining.
After delivering a sloppy forward pass with his first touch after replacing five-eighth Bernard Foley, Barnes atoned by firing the match-winning pass for Folau’s five-pointer.
Barnes capped his successful return with a long-range penalty goal after fulltime.
Five penalty goals from fullback Joe Pietersen, including four in the second half, seemed set to sink the Waratahs at Allianz Stadium.
After running in 11 tries last week against the Southern Kings, the Waratahs could only manage to crack the Stormers’ stonewall defence once in 77 minutes before Folau’s late strike – and that came from a crossfield kick over the top from Foley.
The South Africans had done their homework on Folau and warily double-marked the competition’s leading metres maker at scrum time.
But the former rugby league international was still the Waratahs’ most dangerous attacking threat and inevitably burnt the Stormers.
Cam Crawford’s fifth try in as many starts for the Waratahs helped the home team to an 8-3 halftime lead.
The rookie winger was on the spot after Folau knocked back Foley’s crossfield kick in the 24th minute.
Halfback Brendan McKibbin missed the conversion attempt but slotted a penalty goal on the stroke of halftime to give the Waratahs their five-point buffer at the break.
Pietersen’s radar boot nudged the Stormers ahead after the interval but the Waratahs kept their cool and were rewarded with a plucky win that leaves them just four points adrift of the top six.
