Bishops stand in pivot James van Heerden was his side’s hero after he calmly slotted a last gasp penalty to give his side a 34-33 victory over a gallant Wynberg side on Saturday.

The home side scored three tries during the match, but it was Van Heerden’s boot that proved decisive in the final analysis of the game as the young flyhalf contributed 19 points on the day. Bishops held a slender 16-14 lead at the break, but at the start of the second stanza it was all the visitors. Wynberg’s SA Schools number eight Sikhumbuzo Notshe was a standout performer as he broke the line on several occasions and netted a brace of tries on the day. Notshe’s tries along with centre Riaan O’ Niells effort late in the second half gave the Wynberg boys’ a 33-24 lead going into the last few minutes. The visitors must have thought it was going to be their day; however the hosts had other ideas as their opposition rested on their lead instead of playing for the full seventy minutes, which duly cost them the match in the end.

Firstly, it was WP Cravenweek prop Tsepho Motale who scored his second try of the clash as he thundered over after a bullocking run from twenty metres out with five minutes left to play. Van Heerden obliged with the conversion and the game was set up for a tense finale. Bishops then moved the ball from side to side and held onto possession through numerous phases. The visitors transgressed at the breakdown which saw Van Heerden nail the all important penalty that handed Bishops the victory.

The Wynberg captain, Notshe, was devastated at the final whistle and said,” Rugby is a game of two halves and we were good in one and poor in the other, we also made silly mistakes that cost us at the end of the day.”

Wynberg’s final two games of the season see them take on Rondebosch before they square off in their final match of the season against derby rivals SACS.