Ruthless Crusaders march into final with Tamanivalu at double
THE Crusaders are 80 minutes away from ending nearly a decade of heartache after beating the Chiefs to reach the Super Rugby final.
The seven-time champions have not won the Super Rugby title since 2008 when Robbie Deans was in charge. They reached two finals in 2011 and 2014 under Todd Blackadder, but lost both to the Reds and Waratahs.
With only a third of the possession, they had to put in a sensational defensive effort against their Kiwi rivals from Hamilton while being very clinical in attack to score four tries to the Chiefs’ one.
Bryn Hall and All Black Israel Dagg handed the Crusaders a 15-6 lead by the hour before a brace from winger Seta Tamanivalu put the game to bed.
The Crusaders went into the last round of the season with an unbeaten record, but a defeat to the Hurricanes cost them the top seeding and they will now have to travel to the Johannesburg next week to take on the Lions in the final.
“We didn’t have the ball much and the boys were definitely blowing and the legs were heavy,” said Crusaders captain Sam Whitelock.
“But full credit to the boys they were just hanging on and showed some real determination and grit.”
Despite their endeavour in attack, the Chiefs’ only reward for their first-half efforts was two penalties from Damian McKenzie.
The home side, by contrast, capitalised on the few opportunities they created with Ryan Crotty and Dagg sparking a sweeping counter attack that ended with scrum-half Hall scoring.
Fly-half Richie Mo’unga, who had slotted an earlier penalty, converted to give the Crusaders a 10-6 lead at halftime.
Dagg got the hosts’ second try making the best of a mistake from Leinster-bound wing James Lowe and, with the game there for the taking, Tamanivalu stormed over for his second to give them a 27-6 lead eight minutes from time.
Brusier Brodie Retallick finally breached the Crusaders’ line but with it being two minutes from time it was far too little too late for the 2012 and 2013 champions.
“Rugby is a momentum game and we thought we created a lot of chances,” said fly-half Aaron Cruden. “But you have to give credit to the Crusaders, they scrambled really well and when we looked to have them on the ropes they did enough to hold us out.
“We gave everything we had. It was a great campaign and we can hold our heads up.”