Canterbury rookie Isaiah Punivai picked off a pass and raced 60 metres to break Wellington hearts and bag the first golden point match in Mitre 10 Cup history.
And boy did the red and blacks need their 31-26 bonus point win in Christchurch on Saturday night, after consecutive one-point defeats the past fortnight.
Punivai’s 85th minute match-winning try was a redemption play, given he dropped the golden point kickoff to gift the visitors an early opportunity to strike.
However, pivot Jackson Garden-Bachop, the man who threw the intercept, couldn’t make it count as he pushed a drop goal from out in front wide-right.
“I suppose it was all or nothing. I had some making up to do, the boys gave me full trust and said to flush it,” Punivai said moments after his clutch play.
Canterbury trailed Wellington 26-18 after hooker Tyrone Thompson, a week after uncorking a barnstorming run-away try, shrugged off three defenders with brute strength with 17 minutes to play.
But Canterbury, desperate to avoid a second 1-3 start in as many years, hung tough after losing prop Oli Jager and loose forward Tom Sanders to injuries.
Pivot Fergus Burke banged over a penalty, before Tom Christie, after cracking Billy Harmon and Isaiah Punivai passes, touched down late.
Burke had a chance to win it in regulation, only to push his tricky conversion attempt wide-right.
Led by an outstanding performance by 54-test All Black Julian Savea, who is clearly hungry for a Super Rugby gig next year, Wellington made the hosts pay for Luke Romano’s yellow card.
The visitors scored tries either side of the halftime break to turn an 18-7 deficit into a 19-18 lead early in the second half.
