Wests have blown open the race to the John I Dent Cup finals with the biggest upset of the season so far, shocking defending premiers Royals with a last-minute try to snatch just their second win of the year.
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Wests' 26-24 triumph at Jamison gives the Uni-Norths Owls a glimmer of hope as they chase a top-four spot, despite being on the wrong end of a 61-3 shellacking at the hands of the Tuggeranong Vikings.
The Owls' finals hopes were on the line in their clash against the Vikings and they failed to fire a shot in a nine-tries-to-nil thumping that almost destroyed their play-off chances.
But across town, the struggling Wests dug deep to stun the competition and score in the last minute to breathe life into their campaign.
The Owls are seven points behind fourth-placed Royals while Wests have given themselves the faintest of hopes of a late-season revival. The win against Royals puts them two points behind Uni-Norths.
Making Wests' win even more impressive was the fact they were the only team playing this weekend without an ACT Brumbies representative in their squad and they'd lost seven of their past eight games.
The Vikings had four Brumbies on the field and former Super Rugby speedster Francis Fainifo on the bench as they dismantled the Owls in superb style.
But while halfback Joe Powell was back from Wallabies camp and Jarrad Butler, Nigel Ah Wong and Ben Hyne also played, it was inside centre Jake Rakic who stole the show.
Rakic scored a hat-trick and slotted one conversion while playmaker Andrew Robinson finished with a personal haul of 24 points.
Rakic has been picked in the preliminary Canberra Vikings National Rugby Championship squad and is back in top form after a broken toe forced him to miss the first six weeks of the season.
"I'm starting to get some form back and fit again ... I've trained with the [NRC] squad for the past two years and I'm looking to press for higher honours," Rakic said.
"I want to put my hand up in the John I Dent Cup and stamp some authority and, at the moment, we're going well as a team."
The Vikings scored in the first minute of the game, on the stroke of half-time, at the start of the second half and in the dying seconds to cruise to a 58-point win.
But it was the try just before the half-time break that put the knife through the Owls. Instead of trailing 19-3, they found themselves behind 26-3 and struggling to stay in the contest.
"Those moments are the big head-droppers, but the Vikings were a classy side and they were going to take some beating," said Owls coach Dan Hooper.
"We've just got to mentally stay in the game longer, and not give up points at those crucial points. We're only just behind Royals, so, if we get a result against them next weekend, we're just one win out of the top four. If we win [against Royals] next week, it's game on."
Robinson scored two tries and kicked seven conversions in a strong performance at five-eighth while Rakic and speedster Jake Knight looked dangerous every time they got the ball.
"We knew the Owls were desperate so we're really happy with how we bounced out of that," said Vikings coach Tim Sampson.
"If we didn't play well today, the previous couple of weeks meant nothing so it was good to adapt."
AT A GLANCE
John I Dent Cup: WESTS 26 bt ROYALS 24, TUGGERANONG VIKINGS 61 (J Rakic 3, A Robinson 2, J Powell 2, E Suavai, S Taula tries; A Robinson 7, J Rakic conversions) bt UNI-NORTHS OWLS 3 (S Irwin penalty).
Second grade: Royals 19 bt Wests 17, Tuggeranong Vikings 50 bt Uni-Norths Owls 17.
Colts: Royals 20 bt Wests 0, Tuggeranong Vikings 70 bt Uni-Norths Owls 33,
First division
First grade: Royals 48 bt Wests 22, Tuggeranong Vikings 19 bt Uni-Norths Owls 3, Gungahlin Eagles 49 bt Queanbeyan Whites 0, ADFA 49 bt Easts 7.
Second grade: Wests 24 bt Royals 19, Tuggeranong Vikings 59 bt Uni-Norths Owls 10, Queanbeyan Whites 31 bt Gungahlin Eagles 19, RMC 19 bt ADFA 12.
Brumbies Provincial Tournament: South Coast 50 bt Monaro 12.
NSW State Championships day 1
Under-12s: ACT 48 bt Central West 12, ACT 24 bt Uni 10
Under-13s: ACT 21 bt Penrith 15, ACT 29 bt Eastwood 7
Under-14s: ACT 7 bt Victoria 5, ACT 31 bt Central West 0
Under-16s: ACT 52 bt Warringah 3, ACT 78 bt Eastwood 0
