Win at the death! Match report v Blues
The rain was pouring down on Good Friday, but that didn’t stop a crowd of 11,400 coming to Apollo Projects Stadium to watch the top-of-the-table Crusaders take on their northern rivals the Blues.
Christian Lio-Willie collected the kick-off from Beauden Barrett and Hotham sent it downfield. Rieko Ioane had obstructed so the Crusaders received a penalty and Taha Kemara found touch 15 meters from the line.
Crusaders won the line out and Tamaiti Williams managed to crash his way over the line in his 50th Super Rugby match.
Kemara’s conversion gave the home side a 7-point lead.
After some messy phases of play, the Blues were in with a chance when Josh Fusitu’a drove over the line, but the TMO spotted a knock on by Dalton Papali’i and the try was disallowed.
24 minutes in, and the Blues found themselves on the board as Josh Beehre found a gap and made his way over the line. A conversion by Barrett drew the score 7-all.
The Crusaders then got a chance at a penalty kick from 45 meters out as AJ Lam was pinged for not releasing, but it was unsuccessful to keep the scores drawn.
The Blues then got a shot at a penalty themselves as Patrick Tuipulotu was dragged down in the air, but an unsuccessful kick didn’t let the visitors get ahead.
In the 44th minute, the Crusaders were looking dangerous at the line. The Blues received a warning for conceding too many penalties, and Kemara kicked it to the corner. Havili fired a brilliant pass on his inside to Will Jordan who flew over the line to put his team in front heading into the halftime break.
Not long into the second half, the Crusaders proved they meant business in Christchurch with another try as Christian- Lio Willie drove through off the maul to score and put the Crusaders ahead 19 points to 7.
The Blues tried to hit back as they had several bites at the try line, but the Crusaders defence kept denying them a chance, until Finlay Christie offloaded to Hoskins Sotutu who cracked the Crusaders defence for the visitor’s second try.
The conversion by Barrett was a good one to bring the deficit back to just 5 points and shift the momentum in the last quarter of the match.
The Blues shifted up a gear and came back again hot on attack and putting the Crusaders under immense pressure. Hoskins Sotutu fired a freak wide pass behind his back and AJ Lam picked it up beautifully off the bounce to score and draw the scores again 19-all.
The Blues then put themselves in front after Beauden Barrett slotted a penalty kick to give his side a 3-point lead.
Right back in response, the Crusaders won the scrum and get the penalty – and James O’Connor made an easy job of a kick straight out in front to draw the scores yet again.
Just as the game was looking likely to go into extra time, the Crusaders deliver a huge scrum and got the penalty. The game was solely in the hands of James O’Connor, who flawlessly slotted the kick to send the crowd to their feet and give the home side the hard-fought win.
“Those are the moments you live for when you’re a kicker. It was a beautiful moment and the adrenaline was pumping,” says O’Connor.
Head Coach Rob Penney says it was a classic Blues/ Crusaders match.
“We had to resort to some different tactics today; the conditions were tough and the score right throughout the game reflected the energy both sides put into it.”
Final score: Crusaders 25 Blues 22