It was a weekend for the boot, so to say, as two late winners from key flyhalves in two teams certainly generated enough headlines for the Vodacom United Rugby Championship this weekend.
But this is what the 10 jersey is made for. To slot that impossible kick when the entire stadium is holding their breath and the difference the trajectory of the ball makes to a win or a loss.
This is the big time and when the big moment comes, the men in the 10 jersey rise to the occasion.
Virtually played at the same time - the games were the last on the URC schedule for the weekend, two tens stepped up and won the game for their respective sides. Against expectation, and against the odds.
UMAGA SHOCKS LEINSTER
Probably the biggest upset of the past few rounds, Benetton went into the game in the bottom four on the log and have struggled against the bigger sides.
Leinster went in 'full metal jacket', giving their stars a run before this coming weekend’s Investec Champions Cup semifinal against Toulon.
It was expected to be one way traffic and for a large part of the game it was. Leinster’s fine-tuned machine looked like the side that had won the URC last year and are rated one of the top sides in Europe.
Their Irish stars sparkled, and there were tries for Irish test players like Josh van der Flier, Jamieson Gibson-Park and Ciaran Frawley.
At one stage, Leinster led by 14 points and were cruising home, only for Benetton to find the resolve and dig deep to rally back at them.
Nicholas Gasperini scored twice in the last 20 minutes to draw level and with the scores locked, and time running out, Benetton won a penalty just on Leinster’s side of the halfway line.
Jacob Umaga took the shot, lined it up and drilled it home. It was a sweet celebration as Benetton had shocked Leinster, and the predictability game in rugby had been turned on its head again.
POLLARD SAVES THE BULLS
When we talk about players with ice in their veins, there are few more up to that description than Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard.
The Bok pivot has struggled a bit at the Bulls, and has been kicking at less than 70 per cent success this season, far off his normal standards.
And he didn’t have the best of nights either, missing a touchline penalty and several aerial kicks not finding their mark.
But when it came to kicking from the tee, Pollard’s dead shot saved the Bulls. Going into the last 20 minutes they were behind against the Scarlets, and he stepped up once, twice, and then finally for the third time to win the game for the Bulls.
Three penalties added to three conversions and a try gave him an 18-point haul.
But it was the drama that led up to the final kick that made it all the more memorable. Willie le Roux stabbed a ball cross the field for David Kriel to score, but the TMO saw a forward pass several phases back.
While the debate still rages whether the TMO can go more than two phases back on an infringement, the Bulls had the try they thought had won the game for them chalked off. And on the TV replays it wasn’t even clear and obvious whether it was an actual forward pass....
Had they lost the game, they would have cried foul, but their pack stepped up and won an important scrum penalty, setting up the kick for Pollard to do the business.
And anyone who has watched him kick in the World Cup knows, there is not a kick at the death of a game you would bet against him getting.
When he got the chance, he didn’t disappoint and the Bulls took another step towards the playoffs.