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A stunning performance from Western Force winger Cameron Shepherd has propelled his side to a thrilling 30-27 win over the Bulls in Pretoria.
The 22 year-old scored two tries and kicked six goals as the Perth-based underdogs weathered a first half battering to complete a perfect tour of South Africa.
Coming off a 17-point showing in the win over the Stormers last week, Shepherd improved further, scoring all but five of his team's points -- which came from the unlikeliest of sources.
Prop Gareth Hardy became the matchwinner, when he sprinted over to give the Force their third victory in their history -- all of which have been in South Africa.
After Brendan Cannon had led the Force out on his 100th Super rugby appearance, Shepherd made his intentions clear early with two penalties, but his side were then pegged back for long parts of the first half.
Unable to get the ball from the formidable Bulls pack, centre JP Nel was the Force's tormentor-in-chief scoring two tries in five minutes to open up an 11-point lead.
But another Shepherd penalty on the stroke of half time, accompanied by a yellow card to Bulls flanker Anton Leonard, the Force emerged invigorated - no more so than the left winger.
After a penetrating break from Matt Henjak, Shepherd was on the end of a flowing move to continue his one man show with a touchdown.
After slotting the touchline conversion, the Force were within one point, but Morne Steyn's immediate reply with a penalty eased some home nerves.
An Anton Leonard try seemingly put the Bulls back in charge, but the Force replied through Shepherd again, taking a clever Drew Mitchell offload and chipping behind to dab down for his second try.
Suddenly the Bulls looked worried, and their fears were realised when a stunning passage of play ended with the unlikely figure of Hardy streaking over in the corner.
Twelve minutes from a famous victory, the Bulls threw everything at Mitchell's men, with Force centre Junior Pelesasa banished for a dangerous tackle.
But Matfield three times turned down kickable penalty chances to tie the game, and when the Force pack forced a turnover, Matt Giteau gleefully kicked the ball into touch to secure a second win of the year.
- AAP
