Crusaders trounce 'Canes in record victory run

TOKYO: The Canterbury Crusaders juggernaut stormed to a record 17th consecutive victory with a 38-22 demolition of the Wellington Hurricanes in their Super Rugby clash in Christchurch on Saturday.

The defending champions scored six tries to three and held an impressive 24-0 lead at halftime in the largely one-sided encounter with the score distorted by two late Hurricanes tries when the result was beyond doubt.

For most of the game the Crusaders feasted on stolen lineout ball, Matt Todd dominated the breakdown, and their All Blacks-laden Crusaders pack kept the Hurricanes eight under constant pressure.

Todd, the Crusaders skipper, said the dominant first half was the making of the game.

"We came out with the attitude to attack and we scored some good tries which was pleasing. The second half got a bit messy," he said.

The Crusaders haven't been beaten since back-to-back losses away to the Hurricanes and Otago Highlanders a year ago and have overtaken the previous record of 16 wins set by the Crusaders of 2005-06.

They also extended their impressive home run to 21 matches without defeat in three years.

Two of the Crusaders tries to Scott Barrett came when they departed from their renowned lineout drive and used a new tactic of peeling off to move play infield.

"Obviously teams know we like to drive so we have to have variations off that and it's always nice when stuff you work on at training comes off on game day," Todd said. - AFP