Crusaders prevail in thriller
How about that golden point? Less than 24 hours after the Chiefs sank the Highlanders, the Crusaders broke Hurricanes’ hearts yesterday in Wellington.
A David Havili drop goal one minute into extra time clinched a 30-27 win for the frontrunners and title favourites, leaving a brave, spirited Hurricanes shattered.
In an epic, absorbing clash, Mitchell Dunshea’s chargedown of Cam Roigard’s attempted kick set up victory for the visitors, who came off a chastening loss to the Highlanders to notch their fifth victory of the season.
It came at a cost, with All Blacks Jack Goodhue and Joe Moody limping off with what looked serious injuries.
The Hurricanes defied a malfunctioning lineout with a massive performance led by captain Ardie Savea who looked to have joined the serious injury list but soldiered on until the 62nd minute with a heavily strapped left knee.
Jordie Barrett missed a 62m penalty attempt with seven minutes left, for the win.
The Crusaders were well off their best but showed their champion qualities, led by Sam Whitelock and Codie Taylor while Richie Mo’unga again made the big plays.
Before their best home crowd of the season it looked ominous for
the Canes as their red-clad visitors shot out to 14-3 after 25 minutes.
Barrett was trying to take on the Crusaders himself from the back with mixed success, and a chargedown gifted George Bridge his first try.
Bridge’s second was classic Crusaders, from a scrum as Mo’unga jinked in space, Taylor fired out a pinpoint pass and Will Jordan put his left wing over.
Still, there were alarm bells for the visitors as Goodhue was assisted off with what looked a serious left knee injury in the 20th minute. Then Moody, in his 100th Super Rugby match, stayed down with what looked an ankle problem and cut a forlorn sight as he limped to the dressing room.
The Hurricanes, meanwhile, were jolted into action. New first five-eighth Ruben Love added
some spark and their big game players stepped up.
Coles was everywhere, causing havoc at the breakdown and heavily involved with the ball, too, as they attacked and Laumape barged over for their first try in the 28th minute.
Then Julian Savea, who had made a poor start, latched onto James Blackwell who somehow snaffled a kick-off from Scott
Barrett to storm across for his first try since his return from France, and 51st of his career.
At 17-17 the Hurricanes had their tails up and Savea crossed again but was held up on the stroke of halftime. Then television match official Glenn Newman got involved and the evidence was damning for Laumape whose strike on Scott Barrett earned him a yellow card.
With 14 men, the Hurricanes scored again as Barrett produced a one-handed offload and Wes Goosen crossed.
Ardie Savea looked gone in the same movement but he hobbled onwards, still producing some big moments and forcing vital turnovers on one leg.
But the Crusaders inched their way back, despite some poor errors and their scrum being put under pressure by the hosts.
Mo’unga’s radar boot drew them back within touch then his wide pass – which looked clearly forward – was ruled good and Sevu Reece strolled over amid vehement and justified Hurricanes protests.
As Ardie Savea departed to a huge ovation, it was game on entering the final 15.
Highlanders coach Tony Brown has slammed his side’s ‘‘soft’’ preparation and performance in the wake of their golden-point defeat to the Chiefs which he feels has ended their hopes of making the Super Rugby Aotearoa final.
Just a week after being the toast of the competition with their upset of the four-time defending champion Crusaders in Christchurch, the Highlanders are now picking up the pieces after a dramatic 26-23 loss in Dunedin on Saturday night, in a rollercoaster of a competition which now has the Chiefs as the form team.
‘‘This performance should hurt our guys because we had the opportunity to do something great around trying to make the playoffs, and now we’re out of that,’’ Brown said.
The Highlanders sit on 10 points, four behind the secondplaced Blues, but having played one game more than both them and the Chiefs (12).
‘‘I don’t know the mathematics, but for me we had to win all of our [last three] games,’’ said Brown, who lamented a sluggish first half and a ‘‘poor’’ goalkicking night from Mitch Hunt.
‘‘We just didn’t quite play at the right intensity, we were soft in a few areas of the game, we just didn’t quite play as well as we did last week.
‘‘We couldn’t prepare ourselves to reach that same intensity, which meant that our game suffered. We were either making silly mistakes or just giving them real soft penalties, which kills everything you’re trying to do around trying to create pressure.
‘‘I think we just beat ourselves tonight.’’
Asked what was needed to make the Highlanders more of a contender, Brown said: ‘‘That’s time together, it’s leadership, and it’s all of our players believing that we’re better than everyone else in this competition.’’
In a further blow ahead of
hosting the Blues on Friday night, lock Pari Pari Parkinson was to be assessed after exiting the game at halftime with some damage to the same ankle which he had reconstruction surgery on last year.
Meanwhile, at the other crest of the rollercoaster, the Chiefs are now right back in the mix for the decider, following a third win on the bounce.
Having started their season with back-to-back defeats in an 11-game losing run, they have come up trumps in three successive thrilling finishes, their latest again thanks to star playmaker Damian McKenzie, who slotted the extra-time penalty goal.
‘‘Our big players are stepping up and leading the charge for our young guys to follow,’’ coach Clayton
McMillan said of a performance where the likes of All Blacks Anton Lienert-Brown and Luke Jacobson were also highly instrumental.
‘‘No-one gave us too much chance, and it didn’t look too good after two weeks, but we ground away. For us, from week three of the competition, it’s been backs against the wall and just having to work hard and improve our craft.
‘‘So those are encouraging signs from a young squad, but it’d be a lot easier on my heart if we had done a lot better when we were 23-13 up and could have closed the game out there.’’
Prop Angus Ta’avao, who scored one of the Chiefs’ two tries at Forsyth Barr Stadium, said it was ‘‘a different changing room’’ when the wins started happening.
‘‘I think once we got that first one, a little bit of belief creeps in, a few more smiles around the place and it just grows on you,’’ he said.
‘‘You look at those 11 games, and most of them were lost within five points. We’ve just worked really hard on winning those little moments.’’