Crockett the unlikely Super star in Canberra

Care to guess who the Crusaders players voted as their best in Canberra?

No it wasn’t Manasa Mataele, the wing who escapes tacklers like a runaway jailbird slathered with goose fat, and who scored two tries in the 21-8 win over the Brumbies at GIO Stadium.

Full marks, though, if you nominated Wyatt Crockett. Because the men who should know best, his team-mates, elected the prop as their best performer on Saturday night.

Crockett, 35, doesn’t need to prove anything to the All Blacks selectors, having announced his retirement from the international circus, but he’s still busting a gut for the Crusaders in his final season of Super Rugby.

Front rowers are rarely asked to play longer than 60 minutes nowadays, because to do otherwise risks breaking them. But such logic had to be discarded when loosehead prop Tim Perry pinged a hamstring, forcing him to retire in the fifth minute.

‘‘He threw back the years didn’t he?,’’ Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said in reference to Crockett, who made his 195th appearance for the side.

‘‘He played 75 minutes and was voted player of the day by the team for his efforts. He was massive when we won a critical scrum after we conceded multiple penalties against us (mid-way through the second half) and we went down the other end and defied all the odds in terms of possession and territory.’’

Crockett’s 15 tackles were the most made by the Crusaders, followed by No 8 Jordan Taufua (13).

Although the scoreline makes the win appear comfortable, and the Crusaders almost scored a vital bonus-point try in the final minutes, the reality is the Brumbies spent long periods causing all sorts of distress in the scoreless second spell.

When Scott Barrett and Ryan Crotty were yellow carded midway through the second half, forcing the Crusaders to defend with 13 men for more than 10 minutes, things got really frantic.

Conceding six consecutive penalties also meant the Crusaders were unable to make replacements.

‘‘You can’t make a substitute at that time, so we had Mitch Hunt, Mitch Drummond and Pete Samu waiting on the sidelines,’’ Robertson said.

At least Robertson could laugh about it in hindsight. Although the drama wasn’t over, they somehow survived and the Brumbies lost a terrific chance to spark a comeback.

Mataele, who replaced the injured Israel Dagg on the right wing in the first half, made a significant contribution on attack. He scored two tries, made several line breaks and was the Crusaders’ most effective attacker with 73m under his belt.

‘‘The key is his ability to hold his balance in contact, to step late and power through that first hit,’’ an impressed Robertson said. ‘‘It’s incredible, he just makes himself available at the right places at the right time. He is a real find for us.’’