Prop Dave Hewett scored a valedictory try as the Canterbury Crusaders beat the New South Wales Waratahs 35-12 on Saturday to end a decade of Super 12 rugby with their fifth championship.
Hewett, an uncommon prop who made his international debut at 31 and boasts a college degree, drove through packed tryline defense in the second minute of the second half to give the Crusaders a margin on which their trophy hopes finally rested.
Winger Scott Hamilton scored before Hewett to push the Crusaders to a 14-6 halftime lead, fullback Leon MacDonald and center Caleb Ralph scored later to build an emphatic margin but the prop's try was most celebrated in his last match in the Crusaders' colors.
PHOTO: AFP
last shot
He was one of a number of Canterbury players making their final appearances at Jade Stadium in a match which ended an era for the Crusaders and the competition.
The final was the last in the championship's 12-team format, pending its enlargement to 14 teams next year, and allowed Canterbury to bid an emotional farewell to Hewett and veteran halves Justin Marshall and Andrew Mehrtens.
With their four tries from an overwhelming share of possession and an instinctive attacking style, the Crusaders led 35-6 after 64 minutes and seemed likely to make their fifth championship win their most emphatic.
surge of the Waratahs
But the Waratahs, who made the pace in the competition through 11 rounds of the regular season, stuttered, then surged into life in the last 15 minutes of the match, scoring three tries to make the Crusaders' winning margin more tenuous.
Fullback Mat Rogers partly repaid a number of grievous defensive errors by scoring two late tries and flanker Phil Waugh scored another as the Waratahs fully pressed the Crusaders, forcing them to call on their champion qualities.
"A big season culminated in one really good performance tonight. It was tough but what a great way to send off those guys who are leaving," said Canterbury captain Richie McCaw.
"It was disappointing to let them in for a couple of tries at the end but I guess we judged it all right."
The Waratahs were somber after the match, having reached their first final but ending another promising season without secring any silverware.
"The Crusaders are a great team and we just didn't play smart enough in that first half and let them get away from us," said captain Chris Whitaker. "They have a very good counterattack and they caned us sometimes."
kick start
The match began with a tension-breaking exchange of kicks between All Blacks flyhalf Daniel Carter and the Waratahs Peter Hewat, the season's most prolific scorers. The score increased in three-point increments at three-minute intervals: Hewat converting a penalty in the sixth minute, Carter in the ninth, Hewat in the 12th to put the Waratahs ahead 6-3.
All Blacks wing Rico Gear brought the match to life with a brilliant solo run which led to the fourth try of the postseason to Hamilton, on Canterbury's opposite wing.
The Crusaders made a stirring start to the second half. Lote Tuqiri hesitated in fielding a rolling ball and was caught in deep defense, giving up a turnover. Prop Greg Somerville drove the ball on and the Crusaders retained it through three phases before Hewett was driven over the line.
MacDonald scored in the 58th minute after a midfield break by McCaw and Mauger. Ralph scored in the 64th, supporting a kick and chase by Mauger in a movement which began with the Crusaders' backs to their tryline.
The Waratahs then began to claw their way back with tries to Waugh in the 67th minute and Rogers, in his best attacking form, in the 72nd and 78th.
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