The NSW Waratahs U19s have been beaten on the buzzer by the Reds U19s in one of the opening matches of the Santos Festival of Rugby in Roma.
Tries from James Archer (2), Marlon Frost, Charlie Galligan, Tom O'Hara (2), Tyson Burden and Flynn Hyndman were not enough to prevent defeat against their old rivals, with the Waratahs regularly in front in the topsy-turvy affair until the Reds pulled clear in the second-half.
The NSW side showed enormous fight to bring the tie level, but Reds centre Andres Ayache diving over after the siren to seal it for the home side.
The Waratahs raced out to a lead in the first-half with a smart finish from centre Archer. Fly-half Jonty Fowler made the initial break and drew the full-back nicely to send in his teammate.
Five minutes later the Waratahs had their second with a stunning length of the field effort. After stealing a line-out on their own five metre line, Frost made a piercing run before being brought down at the halfway line. However the ball was recycled quickly and Archer made another break, only to be brought down, but Frost took care of the bouncing ball and finished off the try in the left-hand corner.
Responding to another score from the Reds, vice captain Galligan dived over from close range to push the gap back out to nine points.
And four minutes before the break they extended their lead even further, with the back three of Frost, Tyler Birnie and O'Hara linking up, with the latter diving over in the corner.
The Reds did close the gap on the stroke of half-time with scrum-half Jack Brown dotting down.
After half-time, O'Hara showed his prowess with another cute finish down the line to push the lead back out to nine. However their opponents came roaring into the tie with three tries on the spin to take control.
The Tahs weren't finished, though. Two minutes after the hour-mark, replacement prop Tyson Burden demonstrated his power to crash over and bring his side back into it.
Even though the Reds scored again shortly after, the Waratahs still had to time to respond. Replacement Flynn Hyndman closed the gap back to seven with 11 minutes remaining. And a couple of minutes later they were level with a miracle offload from substitute Harrison Dene.
With the scores tied at 54-apiece, the match ebbed and flowed with both teams looking to find a winner. The Reds were the one to seize the moment, with Ayache on the end of a flowing move on the buzzer to win it for the Queensland side.
A thrilling start to the Santos Festival of Rugby.
Waratahs U19s: Ethan Fulton, Dylan Simmons, Angus Hay, Jack Lawrence, Charlie Galligan, Ed Baxter, Aston Weir, Ilikaya Turagavukica, Flynn Farrell, Jonty Fowler, Tom O'Hara, Josh Barr, James Archer, Marlon Frost, Tyler Birnie
Replacements: Daniel Osborne, Tyson Burden, Harry Davies, Mostyn Bowen, Flynn Hyndman , Matavius-James Petaia, Ian Tunufa’I, Harrison Dene, Tom Hartman
Tries: Archer ('15, '71), Frost ('18), Galligan ('27), O'Hara ('36, '45), Burden ('62), Hyndman ('69)
Cons: Birnie (7)
