Mo’unga inspires Crusaders to vital win
RICHIE Mo’unga moved to 1,000 Super Rugby points as he scored 17 against the Brumbies to secure the Crusaders backto-back wins with a hard-fought 36-27 victory.
Brumbies took the lead through Irae Simone’s try before 23 unanswered points via the boot of Mo’unga and tries from Codie Taylor and Sevu Reece put the visitors in the ascendancy.
Simone hit back with his second try for the Brumbies in the second half and Bryn Hall’s touchdown was cancelled out by Folau Faingaa’s try.
However, Will Jordan crossed to move his tally to eight for the season before
Wallaby flyer Tom Wright scored a late interception try after producing an outstanding step to get past Mo’unga and set up a grandstand finish.
The Brumbies pushed hard for a losing bonus point but outstanding defensive efforts from the Crusaders meant they held on for all the points.
Crusaders captain Scott Barrett said: “In the last four weeks we’ve been tipped into a corner, the Blues tipped us up and the Waratahs as well, so in the last few weeks we’ve dug deeper in our preparation and shown what it means to play for the Crusaders.”
Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa said: “We definitely loved the heart at the end but I think everytime we got down there end we probably made too many errors and you can’t afford to do that against a quality outfit.”
The Highlanders proved too strong for the
Western Force, thumping the visitors 61-10 at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Braces from Folau Fakatava and Andrew Makalio with further tries from Marino Mikaele, Scott Gregory, Rhys Marshall, and Billy Harmon sealed a third straight win.
The Force could only reply to the hosts’ onslaught through first half tries from James Thrush and Andrew Ready as they fall to their sixth consecutive defeat.
Fijian Drua won the contest for bragging rights between the two newcomers, comprehensively beating a sloppy Moana Pasifika 34-19 in Sydney.
Trailing 24-12 at halftime, Moana Pasifika briefly threatened a comeback when a beautiful crossfield kick from Danny Toala set up a try for Timoci Tavatavanawai.
However, the Drua regained control of the game and Apisalome
Vota’s second try of the game after 69 minutes sealed the deal.
League leaders the Blues continued their sensational form by beating the Reds 53-26 and continue their run of 11 straight wins.
Braces from Bryce Heem, Caleb Clarke and
Soane Vikena, with a further try from Stephen Perofeta, sealed a bonus point win.
The Reds did score tries through Suliasi Vunivalu, Ryan Smith and a brace from Jock Campbell but the gulf in class showed the gap in quality right now between Australian and New Zealand sides.
In Saturday’s late game, the Hurricanes moved above the Waratahs into fourth after their 22-18 win courtesy of tries from Tevita Mafile’o, Bailyn Sullivan and Ardie Savea.
This morning’s game sees the
Rebels host the