VIDEO: Crusaders show resurgent Blues who's the boss
MATCH REPORT: A strong performance in the final 20 minutes saw the Crusaders beat the Blues 26-15 in a thrilling top-of-the-table game in Christchurch on Saturday.
The Blues were in front for most of the game, but like we have seen so many times before, the home team turned on the gas after 60 minutes to extend their home record to 36 games unbeaten.
RECAP: Crusaders v Blues
It was also the Blues first defeat of Super Rugby Aotearoa after some fantastic performances in the first few rounds.
After dominating play in the opening few minutes, the Blues nearly opened the scoring in the eighth minute when powerhouse No.8 Hoskins Sotutu powered his way over the tryline from a scrum, but the ball was held up by some Crusaders hands.
However, the constant pressure was too much for the home side and two minutes later the Blues were in when wing Mark Telea gathered a long pass from Otere Black and dived over in the corner for the first try.
Black added the extra two points with the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
After several failed try-scoring attempts, the Crusaders eventually put some points on the board in the 28th minute with a Richie Mo’unga penalty.
The Blues’ lead was then reduced to just one point in the 31st minute with another three points from the Crusaders’ flyhalf.
The Crusaders dominated play in the final 10 minutes of the first half, but they could not find a way through a determined Blues defence.
At half-time it was 7-6 to the away team.
The Blues came out strong in the second half and after sustained pressure in the Crusaders’ 22, Black converted a penalty into three points in the 46th minute for a four-point lead.
However, Mo’unga restored the one-point deficit with a penalty of his own a few minutes later.
Blues centre Harry Plummer had a chance to restore the Blues’ four-point lead in the 52nd minute, but he pushed his penalty kick horribly wide.
But that did not matter as the Blues took advantage of a quick tap penalty in the 55th minute, which saw the ball being spread wide to Rieko Ioane who ran in for a try.
Surprisingly, Black’s conversion attempt was charged down by Crusaders centre Braydon Ennor.
The Crusaders needed to be the next to score and they did when Mo’unga put George Bridge into space out wide with a magic pass. Bridge then found Mitchell Drummond on the inside and the scrumhalf ran in for a crucial try in the 61st minute.
Mo’unga added the two points with the conversion for a one-point lead.
The Crusaders’ lead was extended to four points in the 67th minute with another three points from Mo’unga.
The game was then put to bed in the 75th minute when replacement Will Jordan was put into space in the Blues’ 22 to run in for his team’s second try. Mo’unga added another two points with the conversion.
Man of the match: Hoskins Sotutu and Mark Telea were in fantastic form again for the Blues. However, the award goes to Crusaders flyhalf Richie Mo’unga who set up his team’s two crucial tries in the last 20 minutes and just for his overall game management.
The scorers:
For Crusaders:
Tries: Drummond, Jordan
Cons: Mo’unga 2
Pens: Mo’unga 4
For Blues:
Tries: Telea, R Ioane
Con: Black
Pen: Black
Teams:
Crusaders: 15 David Havili, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Braydon Ennor, 12 Jack Goodhue, 11 George Bridge, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Whetukamokamo Douglas, 7 Tom Christie, 6 Tom Sanders, 5 Mitchell Dunshea, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Michael Alaalatoa, 2 Codie Taylor (captain), 1 Joe Moody.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Makalio, 17 George Bower, 18 Oli Jager, 19 Quinten Strange, 20 Sione Havili, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 Fetuli Paea, 23 Will Jordan.
Blues: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Mark Telea, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Harry Plummer, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Otere Black, 9 Finlay Christie; 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Dalton Papalii, 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Josh Goodhue, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu (captain), 3 Ofa Tuungafasi, 2 James Parsons, 1 Alex Hodgman.
Replacements: 16 Kurt Eklund, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Sione Mafileo, 19 Aaron Carroll, 20 Blake Gibson, 21 Jonathan Ruru, 22 Thomas Faiane, 23 Matt Duffie.
Referee: Paul Williams
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe, James Doleman
TMO: Mike Fraser
