Holy Lucas Casey.
The Otago openside flanker scored two sensational tries in a dramatic 38-36 win against Canterbury to help win the Ranfurly Shield in Christchurch today.
The explosive Kaikorai loose forward rounded the fullback early in the second half and repeated that effort later in the spell on a 40m dash to the line.
Casey has the pace of a winger, the grunt of a forward and perhaps secretly has a Highlanders contract tucked away for next year.
This was a game for the ages.
Canterbury have set the benchmark this season and they played like it for most of the match.
They scored four tries in the first half and led 24-14 at the break.
They looked to have pulled away with two tries in three minutes to open up a 36-21 lead with 25 minutes remaining.
Otago stayed in the fight when Josh Whaanga got a miracle offload to Jae Broomfield.
But shortly after that, lock Will Tucker got himself binned and Otago played the next 10 minutes with 14 players.
Casey provided the spark. He scored the second of his two tries and it was quite something to watch.
He bumped his way through the defensive line and then gave James White the old in-out on a 40m run.
The belief in the Otago camp spiked.
Veteran hooker Liam Coltman tucked himself into the boot of a lineout drive and crashed over to score.
Cameron Millar nailed the conversion to give Otago a two-point lead with the best part of 15 minutes to play.
There was still plenty of time for Canterbury to mount their usual comeback and break hearts.
But not this time.
Otago was ruthless in winding down the clock and keeping the home side pinned in their own half.
They have a winning formula and they stuck to it.
Otago last held the Shield for a week in 2020.
They beat Taranaki, but Hawke’s Bay whipped it away the following weekend.
If they defend it against North Harbour at Forsyth Barr next Saturday, they will get to keep it for the rest of the year.
The win has also seen Otago cement second place in the standings, and they are odds-on to host a quarterfinal.
The game got under way with two minutes of unbroken play.
It does not sound like much, but everyone was sucking in deep breaths at the first scrum.
Canterbury had got into a good position and No 8 Torian Barnes barged over.
They kept the pressure on and George Bell peeled off from the back of the ruck and charged to the line.
Canterbury led 14-0, but they fumbled the restart and Otago took a turn at battering the line.
The other Bell brother, Henry, had a couple of darts. But it was fullback Sam Nemec-Vial who jigged between two defenders to score.
But George Bell muscled his way forward again and Canterbury captain Tom Christie scooped it up and got to the line on his knees.
Otago responded quickly.
Halfback Dylan Pledger speared a long pass to Fijian lock Joseva Tamani and he went in out wide.
Five tries had been scored in 25 minutes.
The sixth was not far away.
The Canterbury backs wrapped around and flicked it wide.
Kurtis MacDonald came from the right wing and took the last pass to score in the left corner.
Otago had their backs to their line again, but Jona Nareki snaffled a turnover and won his side a penalty.
Millar nailed a 50-22 from a narrow angle to set up an opportunity for Otago late in the half.
But Christie got over the ball at the ruck and the chance evaporated.
Otago went into the break trailing by 10.
What they needed was more possession and better discipline.
An early try would be handy too, and they got it.
Enter Casey. He is dynamite and he exploded on to the ball, ran around fullback Chay Fihaki and scored in the corner.
There was some great lead-up work, but that finish — wow.
Canterbury replied with quality tries to Fihaki and Andrew Knewstubb and looked to have snatched the game away from Otago.
Not this time.
Otago are due to arrive home at Dunedin Airport on Sunday morning at 9.45am.
Ranfurly Shield
Otago 38
Lucas Casey 2, Sam Nemec-Vial, Joseva Tamani, Jae Broomfield, Liam Coltman tries; Cameron Millar 4 con
Canterbury 36
Torian Barnes, George Bell, Tom Christie, Kurtis MacDonald, Chay Fihaki, Andrew Knewstubb tries; James White 2 con, Fihaki con
Halftime: 24-14
