Wynne Gray's 50 greatest rugby moments: No.48

United States' Takudzwa Ngwenya, left, outpaces South Africa's Bryan Habana to score a try during the 2007 Rugby World Cup Group A match. Photo / AP

When Springbok speedster Bryan Habana shifted his rugby talents to Toulon a couple of years ago, he outsprinted an Airbus 380 in a promotional race to announce his arrival.

In 2007 Habana, with the advantage of a 35m start, managed to hold out a cheetah in another marketing roadshow.

However he lost out in the speed stakes at the World Cup that year when he came up against Takudzwa Ngwenya, the Zimbabwean-born flier who played on the right wing for USA.

South Africa were pressing for another try when the Eagles captain Todd Clever intercepted a cut out pass close to his own line. He linked up with a couple of teammates before Ngwenya got the ball on halfway.

Several jigs stalled Habana's defensive tactics before Ngwenya hit the turbo boost and the outside channel. In his early career he was timed at 10.5 for the 100m.

"I'm trying, I'm dancing and maybe I should kick it," Ngwenya recalled. "No, I'm just going to pin my ears and take what he's giving me and I did and started screaming so bad, I did it, I scored against the Boks."

Ngwena blasted down the tramlines and while Habana chased hard, he couldn't even click the speedster's heels with a despairing dive. He offered his congratulations and a warning to himself he would not give the speedster the outside gap any other time.

The qualified radiologist said he was intimidated every time Habana got the ball but was happy he'd had a crack at someone he regarded as the world's best.

"I just got him to stop so that worked pretty well. I knew he would be annoyed. If I got beaten by a slower person, I'd be annoyed." During and after the tournament, Ngwenya was hounded by clubs looking for his signature and eventually he chose Biarritz where he still plays and has made almost 220 appearances for the club.

Ngwenya started as a sevens player for USA and played at both the 2007 and 2011 World Cups as part of his 31 test career.