Defending champions the Canterbury Crusaders likely sealed first place in Super Rugby’s New Zealand conference yesterday with a 19-11 win over the Auckland Blues in a local derby.
Both teams scored one try, but All Blacks flyhalf Richie Mo’unga kicked 14 points — four penalties and a conversion — to clinch a win that lifted the Crusaders 13 points clear of the Wellington Hurricanes, who have a bye this round.
With three matches remaining, the Hurricanes have a maximum of 15 points available to them, but that is unlikely to be enough to overtake the Crusaders, who have games left against the Melbourne Rebels and the Waikato Chiefs.
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The Crusaders adapted best to cold and slippery conditions on their home ground, playing for territory and putting pressure on the Blues with kicks behind the defensive line.
A chip-kick from Mo’unga set up a try for scrumhalf Bryn Hall in the 20th minute, which helped the Crusaders to a 13-3 lead after a dominant first half.
The Blues won more possession and territory in the second half and scored a try through winger Rieko Ioane — his ninth of the season — which cut the lead to five points at 16-11 with 10 minutes remaining.
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However, Mo’unga’s final penalty restored an eight-point margin and denied the Blues even a bonus point, leaving them bogged in last place in the conference.
“It wasn’t pretty at times,” Crusaders captain Sam Whitelock said. “We beat the Blues earlier in the year and it was tough, and this game was no different.”
The match failed to reach any great heights. Long periods of play were consumed with resetting scrums, while handling errors prevented any expansive play. The Blues struggled to exit their own half for long spells and scored too late to mount a substantive challenge to the Crusaders’ lead.
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“I think we can be proud of that effort,” Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu said. “The Crusaders, full credit to them, kept the pressure on and it was just too little too late in the end.”
Earlier, the Rebels took full advantage of a match against the Sunwolves to stay within one point of leaders the ACT Brumbies in the Australia conference.
The Brumbies moved six points clear atop the conference table with Friday’s win over the Bulls, but the Rebels restored a one-point margin with a 52-7 win over last-place Sunwolves, outscoring their Japan-based opponents eight tries to one.
However, the win came at a cost, with Wallabies test scrumhalf Will Genia knocked out and likely to miss next weekend’s match against the Waratahs, who lost to the Jaguares 15-23 at the Bankwest Stadium in Sydney.
The win sent the Argentina-based side to the top of their South Africa conference.
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