A sensational 45m Mitchell Hunt drop-goal three minutes into injury time gave the Canterbury Crusaders a 25-22 win over the Otago Highlanders yesterday in a Super Rugby clash that might have repercussions for the All Blacks.
It was the second heart-break finish for the Highlanders against the only unbeaten side in the competition after the Crusaders produced a stunning fightback to turn a 6-27 deficit into a 30-27 victory when they met in round two.
This time the Highlanders were up 22-19 with four minutes to go after a pair of Waisake Naholo tries early in the second half lifted them from a 19-10 deficit at the turn.
However, in the fallout from the frenetic, physical battle, key All Blacks Ben Smith and Ryan Crotty were injured and unable to play out the game.
Three weeks out from the first Test against the British and Irish Lions, Highlanders fullback Smith failed a concussion test and influential center Crotty of Crusaders left the field with rib damage.
As they watched on from the sideline, the Highlanders looked to have laid their early season meltdown to rest until Crusaders replacement flyhalf Hunt took the field.
With four minutes remaining he landed a penalty to tie the scores. When he missed another shot the referee said there were only 10 seconds remaining.
The Crusaders forwards fielded the restart and drove their way up the field, making a meter at a time for nearly three minutes after the final hooter until Hunt banked over the match-winning drop-goal.
Hunt said the tiring pack really gave him no choice.
“Wyatt Crockett turned around and said: ‘do something with it’ and there’s wasn’t anything else I could do,” he said, admitting he was surprised that the kick went over. “For a short player, I can hardly punt it that far so I was pretty lucky with that kick.”
It was the Crusaders’ 14th consecutive victory, breaking their own Super Rugby record of 13 set in 2002.
The Highlanders, with their nine-match winning streak coming to an end, now almost certainly face a lengthy journey to South Africa when the post-season arrives.
In Hamilton, a hat-trick to James Lowe saved the Waikato Chiefs as they survived a second-half fightback by the NSW Waratahs to win 46-31.
The Chiefs looked to have the game sewn up with a 32-3 lead early in the second spell only for a resurgent Waratahs to close the gap to 39-31 before Lowe scored for the third time just before fulltime to put victory beyond doubt.
The Waratahs four-try second half spurt, while it ultimately did them no favors, denied the Chiefs a bonus point, which could prove crucial in the tightly packed new Zealand conference.
“It would have been even better if we had been able to get a bonus point out of that. In patches we played pretty well, but again the consistency in performance is letting us down,” Chiefs co-captain Aaron Cruden said.
New Zealand sides, led by the Crusaders, have already wrapped up the Australasian wildcards for the playoffs, while the Waratahs only hope of making the final eight is to win the Australian conference led by the ACT Brumbies, who they trail by nine points with a game less to play.
Damian McKenzie, who leads the competition for carries and meters gained, was on top of his game with a hand in four of the Chiefs’ six tries, landed 16 points off the boot and was a constant thorn in the Waratahs defense with his ability to create space.
However, McKenzie did not help his cause with a wild pass that was intercepted by Rob Horne for the Waratahs first try.
The diminutive McKenzie was then unable to bring down giant prop Sekope Kepu who galloped 60m for the Waratahs fourth and final try.
In the first late games in Australia yesterday, the Brumbies beat the Melbourne Rebels 32-3, while the Wellington Hurricanes were leading in the first half against the Western Force at press time.
On Friday, the Auckland Blues defeated the Queensland Reds 34-29 at Apia Park in Samoa.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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