Disjointed Crusaders hold off Highlanders
Champs edge first half before sides bumble through scoreless second
17 Crusaders 14 Highlanders
It doesn’t matter how the result comes, just as long as it does.
The Crusaders’ 17-14 win over the Highlanders in Christchurch last night fit that notion perfectly.
In a match where both teams had opportunities to clinch victory, the Crusaders left with the points in a game that saw a competitive and entertaining first half followed by an error-riddled and disjointed second.
The winless Highlanders started well, opening the scoring through hooker Andrew Makalio. A wellworked move from a close-range lineout, the ball went short to Shannon Frizell, who gave it quickly back to a charging Makalio, who muscled through Richie Mo’unga to get the ball down.
The Crusaders hit back within five minutes in a strange sequence. Playing under penalty advantage, second five-eighth David Havili put in a speculative chip and chase inside the Highlanders 10m. He regathered it — albeit with a hint of a knock on, which was later cleared — and a charging Fletcher Newell was put through the line to score in the next phase.
The Highlanders regained the lead through Scott Gregory, who was set up by a lovely delayed pass from Mitch Hunt, but a penalty and a Leicester Fainga’anuku try gave the Crusaders a slim lead at the break.
There was plenty to play for in the second half, but the 40 minutes that followed were rather strange.
The frantic movement on the field gave the illusion plenty was happening. There were plenty of opportunities, but while there may have been a bit going on, none of it was pretty.
Both teams did little with their possession in the second half. Penalties and loose play saw the ball change hands constantly, with the play just drifting around the middle of the park, the sides trading possession but neither really applying any sort of pressure on the other.
The game needed someone, or something, to breathe some life back into it. The opportunities were there but the execution was not.
Hunt’s attempted kick to touch deep inside Crusaders territory that sailed dead in goal and resulted in a Crusaders scrum was a perfect summation of the half.
After 33 minutes of mediocrity, the Highlanders brought some excitement back to the game. Marino Mikaele Tu’u, a standout performer, snatched the ball as the Crusaders tried to set up a lineout drive, before Frizell beat a couple of defenders and found himself in open space, but the opportunity soon fizzled out.
It was a similar story moments later when Folau Fakatava broke the line, but had no support, so turned the ball over at the breakdown.
The Crusaders were down to 14 men for the final three minutes when Shilo Klein was red-carded for a shoulder charge on Highlanders prop Ethan de Groot but saw out the final minutes to take the win.
Crusaders 17 (Fletcher Newell, Leicester Fainga’anuku tries; Richie Mo’unga 2 cons, pen)
Highlanders 14 (Andrew Makalio, Scott Gregory tries; Mitchell Hunt 2 cons)
HT: 17-14.