Crusaders give Razor a winning send-off

MATCH REPORT: The Crusaders claimed a seventh straight title with a 25-20 win over the Chiefs in the Super Rugby Pacific Final Saturday.

The win put a seal on one of the great eras of Rugby Union domination, sending coach Scott Robertson off to the All Blacks with a seventh straight title.

The Christchurch-based powerhouse handed the Chiefs only a second loss of the season to silence a full-house at Hamilton’s Waikato Stadium and secure a 14th Super Rugby title of all types in the 28 years since the game went professional.

Under his stewardship, the Christchurch-based franchise has won a perfect set of seven consecutive titles since 2017.

Hooker Codie Taylor crossed for a converted try, his second, from a rolling maul in the 73rd minute for the winning score and the Crusaders held out the Chiefs, reduced to 14 men for the third time in the match, to secure the victory.

The Chiefs scored tries through fullback Shaun Stevenson and flying wing Emoni Narawa and held a 20-15 lead on the hour mark, but were unable to secure a first Super Rugby title since they went back-to-back in 2012 and 2013.

The match turned in the 72nd minute when Chiefs co-skipper and All Blacks captain Sam Cane was shown a yellow card.

From the resulting penalty, Test veteran Taylor was driven across for his 42nd career try, setting the record for the most tries by a forward in Super Rugby.

Roared on by their home crowd, the Chiefs’ best chance of victory was a missed long-range penalty attempt from flyhalf Damian McKenzie.

Mo’unga rounded out the scoring with a penalty after the final hooter, sparking emotional scenes among a Crusaders side who were missing seven All Blacks through injury.

Taylor, who scored two tries, revealed the players were motivated to win for their departing personnel including Mo’unga and Sam Whitelock.

“I’m lost for words, just so proud of the effort,” Taylor said.

“I can’t get the fact out of my head that the boys are leaving and how much it means to them.

“It’s special. All the boys leaving really stood up tonight.

“Can’t take anything from the Chiefs, they threw everything at us. We just managed to hang in there.”

It was a heartbreaking result for the Chiefs, who appeared to have the firepower to end a decade-long title drought after dropping only one game in the regular season.

Two long-serving Chiefs players – All Blacks Brodie Retallick and Brad Weber – were playing their last game before heading overseas.

The Crusaders led 15-10 at half-time but the margin could have been greater after they dominated possession, helped by the Chiefs’ ill-discipline.

The home side was forced to play with 14 men for two 10-minute periods following yellow cards to All Blacks Anton Lienert-Brown and Luke Jacobson before Cane was also sin-binned.

Weber lamented their lack of discipline.

“It sucks, this crowd deserved to see us win tonight and jeez, if we had done it with 14 men for 30 minutes it would have been a hell of a story to tell,” he said.

“To come up just short… it’s devastating.”

When you remember you packed your dancing shoes in your bag 👀#WelcomeToYourSuperStage #SuperRugbyPacific #CHIvCRU pic.twitter.com/dxmFwHwUhL

— Super Rugby Pacific (@SuperRugby) June 24, 2023

The scorers

For the Chiefs
Tries: Stevenson, Narawa
Cons: McKenzie 2
Pens: McKenzie 2

For the Crusaders
Tries: Taylor 2, Mo’unga
Cons: Mo’unga 2
Pens: Mo’unga 2

Yellow cards: Anton Lienert-Brown (Chiefs, 8 – foul play, high tackle), Luke Jacobson (Chiefs, 25 – repeated infringements, breakdown infringement), Sam Cane (Chiefs, 72 – cynical foul, breakdown offence)

Teams

Chiefs: 15 Shaun Stevenson, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Alex Nankivell, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Etene Nanai-Seturo, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Brad Weber o-(co-captain), 8 Luke Jacobson, 7 Sam Cane (co-captain), 6 Pita Gus Sowakula, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 George Dyer, 2 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 1 Aidan Ross.
Replacements: 16 Tyrone Thompson, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 John Ryan, 19 Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 20 Samipeni Finau, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 Rameka Poihipi.

Crusaders: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Dallas McLeod, 13 Braydon Ennor, 12 Jack Goodhue, 11 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Mitch Drummond, 8 Christian Lio-Willie, 7 Tom Christie, 6 Sione Havili Talitui, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Oli Jager, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams.
Replacements: 16 George Bell, 17 Kershawl Sykes-Martin, 18 Reuben O’Neill, 19 Quinten Strange, 20 Dom Gardiner, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Chay Fihaki.

Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Nic Berry (Australia)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)

Sources: AFP & AAP