Match Reports

The Crusaders have come away from Durban with an emphatic win over the Sharks.  Their eight try haul saw them pile 50 points on the Sharks, despite being down to 12 men at one point.  Click here for match highlights.

The Crusaders made their intentions clear early in the game, with a try to Andy Ellis 2 minutes in and another to Israel Dagg 2 minutes later.  Colin Slade converted both to put the Crusaders ahead by 14 point just 5 minutes in.

Despite the Crusaders conceding a number of penalties, the Sharks were unable to capitalise and came out of the first half with just 3 points to their name.

The Crusaders, on the other hand, had two more tries up their sleeve to give them the bonus point before the first half was even over.  The first went to Kieron Fonotia after the Crusaders won a scrum and then passed the ball wide.  The next try came after they drove over the line in a maul and then went wide to Ryan Crotty who dotted down.  Slade was in outstanding kicking form, converting both tries to put the Crusaders up 28 - 3 at halftime.

They had more than just the 28 points on the board though - lack of discipline also saw three yellow cards dished out to the Crusaders within three minutes at the end of the half.  Nepo Laulala and Kieron Fonotia were both sent off for tackling without arms, while Nemani Nadolo was controversially given his marching orders for kicking the ball away after the Sharks had won a penalty.

Referee Stuart Berry had not emptied his pockets yet though.  Just moments later Jean Deysel was seen to intentionally put a knee to the head of Matt Todd, earning himself a red card.  It was a bizarre end to a frantic first half of rugby.

Despite their commanding lead, there is no doubt the Crusaders would have had stern words in the changing rooms at the halftime break, with poor discipline leaving them to field a 12 man team for the first 8 minutes of the second half.

What they were lacking in numbers they made up for in skill and execution.  Slade kicked the second half off with an outstanding individual try, chipping the ball behind the Sharks then chasing, gathering, scoring and converting his own try.

The next try came while the Crusaders were still a man down.  The Crusaders split the Sharks defence and David Havili slipped through to score a try on his starting debut.  So not only did they manage to avoid conceding any points while they had players in the bin, the Crusaders also managed to add another 12 points to their total.

They weren't done inflicting pain on the home side yet though.  Matt Todd was the next to get the ball across the line with a beautiful move straight off the lineout.

The Sharks finally gave their fans something to celebrate when Odwa Ndungane scored a try in the 54th minute and Fred Zeilinga converted to give them a total of 10 points on the board. Scant relief though when the Crusaders were sitting on 45 points.  

Tom Taylor rounded off an exciting performance by the Crusaders by scoring and converting their eighth try right on the fulltime whistle.  From rueing the opportunities missed against the Bulls last week, to celebrating a barnstorming half century bonus point win against the Sharks this week - a week is a long time in Super Rugby and the Crusaders will keep that in mind as they return home and prepare to take on the Highlanders next weekend in Christchurch.

Crusaders 52 (Andy Ellis, Israel Dagg, Kieron Fonotia, Ryan Crotty, Colin Slade, David Havili, Matt Todd, Tom Taylor tries; Colin Slade 5 conversions, Taylor conversion) 

Sharks 10 (Odwa Ndungane try; Fred Zeilinga conversion, Patrick Lambie penalty).