Singapore fly half John Forrester kicked a last gasp conversion to snatch a 20-20 draw with Sri Lanka in the opening match of the HSBC Asian Five Nations Division I at the Tainan Rugby Stadium in Chinese Taipei.
Singapore had trailed 20-10 with six minutes remaining, but a Forrester penalty cut the deficit to seemingly secure at least a losing bonus point for his side from a match played in cool and blustery conditions in Tainan.
However Singapore had other ideas, they mounted one last attack which ultimately saw their impressive number 8 Ben Wheeler stopped just short of the try line. They quickly recycled the ball for full back Gareth Pritchard to dive over in the last minute.
That try still left Singapore trailing 20-18 - until that is Forrester held his nerve to kick the conversion to deny Sri Lanka an opening victory and leave both sides with three points in the table ahead of their matches with hosts Chinese Taipei.
The first half had, ironically, also witnessed a last gasp try, although this time it went Sri Lanka's way when they capitalised on the sin-binning of second row Steve Horsfall for fly half Ashan De Costa to find a gap in the Singapore defence to score.
Top Five the prize for winners
With Riza Mubarak and Forrester having traded penalties, that try meant that Sri Lanka went in leading 10-3 at half time in a match between two evenly matched sides, one looking dangerous in the backs, the other strong in the forwards.
Wheeler turned provider for captain Chris Gilbert to score Singapore's first try just before the hour mark, offloading to the second row after being hauled down five metres short of the try line.
The scores remained locked at 10-10 until the 70th minute when a period of prolonged pressure from Sri Lanka paid dividends with a flowing move resulting in a try for wing Chula Susantha.
Sri Lanka then increased their lead to 10 points with a penalty from replacement Saliya Kumara, but they were ultimately denied victory in this tournament, which forms part of the Rugby World Cup 2011 qualifying process in Asia.
Singapore now face a quick turn around to play Chinese Taipei on Thursday, the tournament format having changed to a round robin after China withdrew having failed to secure travel visas in time.
The winner of Division I will gain promotion to the Top Five of the HSBC Asian Five Nations in 2009 and the chance to play against the region's leading sides in Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Kazakhstan.