Mo’unga’s boot keeps Crusaders riding high
RICHIE MO’UNGA’S penalty against the run of play with just minutes to spare saw the Crusaders sink the Hurricanes and extend their unbeaten run to 11 games this season.
Matt Todd grabbed the game’s only try but it was the boot of Mo’unga that proved crucial, nailing five kicks to Hurricanes’ fullback Jordie Barrett’s four to earn a 20-12 victory.
The Crusaders became only the second side in Super Rugby history to start a campaign with 11 wins in a row, alongside their 2002 vintage crop, and despite missing their injured skipper Kieran Read, they have become title favourites.
Head coach Scott Robertson said: “It was important that we gave them poor quality ball and we managed to do that.
“Beauden Barrett didn’t get many opportunities, and them not scoring a try is us defensively, on a dewy night, nailing the majority of our execution and limiting their opportunities.”
Hurricanes infringed in the first scrum on their 22 metre line to allow Mo’unga to open the scoring after five minutes.
Full-back Jordie Barrett hit back with two of his own to give Huricanes the lead but they were left chasing the game after Todd’s try from Quinten Strange’s lineout catch and drive in a dominant second half.
Barrett added two more penalties and the Hurricanes kept coming right up until the death, only for Mo’unga to sink them with his fifth successful shot at goal.
A piece of individual brilliance from Malakai Fekitoa lit up Loftus Versfeld as the Highlanders won an otherwise defensively dominated game 17-10 against the Bulls.
The outside-centre created something from nothing with an outstanding burst of pace, slicing his way through the Bulls’ defence and weaving a path to the try line from deep after Bulls lock Rudolph Snyman saw red for a shoulder charge on Greg Pleasants-Tate.
Until then, the teams were equally poised at 10-10 with earlier tries from Bulls’ full-back Warrick Gelant and Highlanders utility back Matt Faddes.
This despite the Kiwis being down to 14 men for 20 minutes after wing Waisake Naholo’s high tackle on Burger Odendaal.
A last minute converted catch and drive try from
Cheetahs replacement Elandré Huggett was scant consolation after the Blues had run in eight tries with half an hour remaining.
After an initial score by the Cheetahs captain Francois Venter, the Blues used their ruthlessness at setpiece to settle back into Eden Park with a 50-32 victory to make it three on the trot after back-to-back wins in Australia. New wing sensation Rieko Ioane put in a man of the match display.
After being unable to get on the scoresheet in the first-half, Lions’ full-back Andries Coetzee sealed a 13-6 victory over the
Brumbies with a penalty at the death to remain the top non-Kiwi franchise.
Brumbies fly-half Wharenui Hawera hit a penalty for the only points in a dire first half before Lions’ flanker Kwagga Smith got on the end of a Lionel Mapoe offload for the game’s only try. It makes it four losses in a row for the Canberra side.
The Queensland Reds were the only Australian side to win this weekend, snapping their 10-match losing streak on the road with a 29-24 win over the Melbourne Rebels.
The visitors had not won away from home since May 2015 but captain Samu Kerevi inspired his side to victory with powerful ball carrying and a try-double that included the winner.
A late try by Pieter-Steyn de Wet saw the Southern
Kings triumph 35-32 over the Sharks in a tight affair at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. Garth April’s boot had given the Sharks the lead with 11 minutes to go.