Mo’unga turns on the magic

Richie Mo’unga sure did his best to silence any remaining detractors during Saturday night’s triumphant Super Rugby Aotearoa final.

You don’t need to dig deep to find people who believe the Crusaders and All Blacks pivot goes missing in big games, particularly when donning the black jersey.

However, if his performance in the Crusaders’ 24-13 win against the Chiefs in the decider in Christchurch wasn’t standing up in a big game, what is?

Mo’unga was sublime as rain tumbled out of the Christchurch sky when the Crusaders were on the ropes, clinging to a 15-13 lead with team-mates Codie Taylor and Sevu Reece in the bin.

The Chiefs were sniffing a remarkable upset with 20 minutes to play. That is until Mo’unga swung the game the way of the hosts with a series of clutch plays after Chiefs utility Damian McKenzie kicked the ball his way.

Mo’unga started fading towards the sideline with the ball still in the air, before gobbling up the pill and making a couple of players miss tackles as he powered the Crusaders inside the 22.

‘‘Yeah, what a play, what a player. That’s freakish,’’ Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said.

A moment later, he banged over a drop goal, before pinning the Chiefs deep inside their 22 with a booming punt which beat McKenzie into touch.

You could sense the bubble bursting.

‘‘Then he backed it up later when he kicked long, made that tackle, and we turned it over. They are some quarterback plays. He’s special,’’ Robertson said.

Chiefs’

Mo’unga, who added two late penalty goals to ice the game and finish with 14 points, also provided the peach of a cut-out ball to put Reece over for the game’s opening try, which he converted from out wide.

Speaking after the game, the satisfaction pumping through the Christchurch product’s veins was evident.

‘‘Man, honestly, just in awe of this team and what it’s achieved the last five years. I really wanted this one really bad, eh. And it just feels so good. And I said to a few of the boys in there, just don’t underestimate what we’ve done, because it’s a hell of an achievement,’’ he said.

The Crusaders are 57-5 when Mo’unga has played since 2017, and he was also clutch in the team’s home finals in 2018 and 2019, against the Lions and Jaguares, respectively.

‘‘It’s just what we do as Crusaders. It’s what we love, the big stage, we love finals footy. To break it down even more, it’s built on pressure and care, that’s what our team thrives on,’’ Mo’unga said.

‘‘I want to see where I can influence the team positively. In big games like this, you need your big players to stand up, and for me I love that pressure, I love that ability to try and take control.’’

Mo’unga saved special praise for David Havili, who was again superb in the midfield, where he’s been forced to play despite openly preferring fullback.

Havili, who set up Will Jordan’s first half try with a sweet grubber kick, is the form midfielder in the country, and is knocking loud on All Blacks coach Ian Foster’s door.

‘‘It’s just been awesome playing inside him, he’s got the best skills in the team, passing and kicking, it’s nothing new. We all knew he was capable of this.’’

The Super Rugby Aotearoa final wasn’t lacking for big moments, and referee Ben O’Keeffe was at the centre of several of them.

The man in the middle did a pretty good job in Saturday night’s decider in Christchurch, won 24-13 by the Crusaders, but there was one major moment which must leave Chiefs fans confused.

Why no penalty try when Will Jordan was ruled to have taken Jonah Lowe high in the act of scoring?

And the irony is amazing, as O’Keeffe was the very same man who in 2018 awarded the Crusaders a penalty try against the Chiefs in Christchurch when Ryan Crotty took a blow to the head from Lachlan Boshier when diving for the line.

Let’s run the rule over the major moments from the final:

Chiefs winger Lowe looked like finishing off an excellent attack by the visitors in the right-hand corner, only for a brilliant try-saving tackle from Crusaders fullback Jordan.

TMO Brendon Pickerill was called upon to check the grounding and touchline, and while Lowe hadn’t managed to get the ball to the line, the officials found high contact from Jordan to the head of Lowe.

O’Keeffe restarted play with a penalty for that infringement, but the Chiefs could feel hard done by that they weren’t instead awarded an automatic seven-pointer.

Under World Rugby’s law 8.3: A penalty try is awarded between the goal posts if foul play by the opposing team prevents a probable try from being scored, or scored in a more advantageous position.

There was nothing else stopping Lowe from scoring – no other defenders in his path as he dived for the chalk, so a try was indeed imminent.

There is nothing in the rules that explicitly states as such, but in the referees’ parlance you hear them talk about ‘the offending player having to be removed from the equation’ for them to decide if a try probably would have been scored, and, as such, if Jordan wasn’t there then Lowe would have indeed got to the line.

It was a strikingly similar situation to one from three years ago at the same venue, between the same teams, with the same ref – see the video below from 3:10 – where the Chiefs were on the other end of the call.

The rest of the penalty try rule states that the offending player must be shown a yellow or red card, too. And while it would have seemed an ultra harsh call for Jordan to be marched to the sin bin along with the penalty try, for what was just initial head contact before the tackle height lowered, rules are rules.

The Chiefs were down 12-10 at this stage and while they had their own issues – notably missed goalkicks from Damian McKenzie – and some Crusaders brilliance to blame for the result, it could have proved a big turning point.

A less clear-cut one, this, but another which didn’t fall the Chiefs’ way.

After a kick through from Chiefs centre Anton Lienert-Brown, Crusaders winger Bridge scrambled in the in-goal to try and ground the ball, and ends up getting a hand to it to bat it over the dead-ball line.

It’s a common play seen in rugby league, but in rugby it’s a penalisebale offence.

Law 9.7 (b) states: A player must not intentionally knock, place, push or throw the ball with arm or hand from the playing area.