It was a special night in Christchurch on Saturday, as more than 15,000 packed the stands at Apollo Projects Stadium. A Kiwi derby for the books played out over 80 minutes, the Crusaders coming away with the win and some desperately needed competition points.
A final score of 29-27 hints at the to and fro nature of the contest, played out a day after the Crusaders Hall of Fame Charity Lunch meaning dozens of former players were literally looking down on the current squad and cheering them on.
Aside from some brilliant team tries and huge scrumming efforts, the takeaway from this one was the crowd. The fans. The members. Huge effort from the thousands who turn out – thank you for your support. The boys felt it and mentioned it specifically in their post-match huddle.
Some things that stood out:
- Ethan back from injury, scoring a crashing try within the first 20mins. Such pleasing scenes for the big man. Icing on the cake from Ferg Burke to take the lead.
- The bold cross field kick from Burke just minutes after the Blues pushed their lead out to 12-20. He saw Christian Lio-Willie, he lined him up and he connected with the blonde loosie. Fihaki’s conversion closed the Blues lead to three points. Watch out. (Spoiler alert: it didn’t finish there)
- And here come the backs. As the 60min mark ticked over and the Blues held a three point lead Ferg punched through the defensive line. A pass to Chay Fihaki, who drove forward a few more metres before a ridiculous offload to Noah Hotham to run it in.
We have one more home game here in Christchurch against Moana Pasifika on Friday 31 May. There are $10 tickets for 48 hours so don’t miss your chance!
