Leading 35-19 with 20 minutes to go in Saturday’s National Rugby Championship blockbuster, NSW Country looked home and hosed.
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But a late Brisbane City blitz forced the Eagles into a thrilling 38-all draw at Orange’s Endeavour Oval.
After trailing 19-14 at half-time the Eagles took control early in the second half and shot to a 16-point lead before Brisbane City roared back with three tries in the dying stages, against NSW Country’s lone penalty goal.
The 19-3 run was enough for Brisbane to salvage the draw.
“It was ours to win, it is a disappointing draw,” NSW Country skipper Paddy Ryan said.
“I don’t really think we fell in and out of the game at all, we just let things that we couldn’t control get to us a bit.
“There was a few things out there that were out of our control that weren’t quite up the scratch ... we let it get to us.”
The result brings Brisbane’s campaign to an end while the Eagles were relying on Queensland Country beating Perth on Sunday night to qualify for the finals.
City bombed a number of chances early before NSW Country opened the scoring at the 14-minute mark through hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa.
Tayler Adams added the extras, before handing Brisbane City its first points 10 minutes later.
After Brisbane halfback Nick Frisby chipped to the corner for his winger Adams won the race to the ball, but in deliberately knocking the ball into touch he conceded a penalty try and was yellow-carded for his trouble.
NSW Country answered back straight away though, Paenga-Amosa falling over for his second after the first of many powerful, patient and above all clinical rolling mauls the Eagles produced.
Tom Hill converted in Adams’ absence, but back-to-back tries for Junior Laloifi and Pat Morrey handed Brisbane City a 19-14 advantage at the break.
Paenga-Amosa completed his hat-trick straight after the break, from a maul, before the Eagles were awarded a penalty try of their own after Brisbane City collapsed a line-out drive.
When Alex Gibbon scored to make it 35-19, the Eagles looked certain to win.
But tries to Laloifi and Michael Gunn kept City in the game, even with Adams’ 74th minute penalty making it 38-31.
Chris Kuridrani scored for Brisbane two out from full-time though, Jake Strachan’s conversion squaring the ledger. Both sides won penalties after that and the game went well past the 80-minute mark, but neither could break the deadlock.
