Crusaders claim 12th title in thrilling finale

The Crusaders have beaten arch-rivals the Chiefs 25-20 to claim a 12th Super Rugby Pacific title in a thrilling encounter infront of a sold-out crowd in Hamilton tonight.

Both sides arm wrestled for the first eight minute of the match before the Scott Robertson coached Crusaders were awarded a penalty which Richie Mo’unga took and slotted between the posts for a 3-nil lead.

Two minutes later, Chiefs were reduced to 14 players when Anton Lienert-Brown was sent off to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle.

Yet, the Chiefs remained reluctant and won a penalty which Damian McKenzie brilliantly booted between the uprights for a 3-3 in the 18^th minute.

It was Samisoni Taukei’aho, who picked up the ball from the back of the ruck but he was pulled down at the 22 however, Shaun Stevenson quickly recycled the ball and stripped off Mo’unga to score on the left for the Chiefs.

McKenzie converted to give them a 10-3 lead for the first time in the match before they were again reduced to 14 men when Luke Jacobson was sin-binned for a foul play.

Crusaders took advantage of the opportunity through Codie Taylor as he caught the lineout and crushed to score but Mo’unga failed to convert while McKenzie also missed a Chiefs penalty.

The Crusaders restarted the match and the quick hands of Leicester Fainga’anuku caught the ball in the air and he was tackle down at 22 meter but Mo’unga recycled the ball and dummied his way to the try line in the 37^th minute and converted.

In the added minute of halftime, coming off the bench, Chay Fihaki missed a penalty yet the Crusaders led by 15-10 at the break.

The Chiefs came out strong in the second spell as Alex Nankivell’s one-on-one power play with Stevenson saw him flick a pass to Fiji-born flyer Emoni Narawa and he sprinted the chalk into the corner.

McKenzie converted before he slotted his second penalty to give the Chiefs a 20-15 lead in the 49^th minute.

However, a second try from Narawa was disallowed by the match official finding him in an offside position.

The Chiefs further suffered a huge blow when co-captain Sam Cane was sent to the naughty chair for taking the ball out of the run from offside.

One minute later, another maul and lineout was created which saw Taylor dive through the Chiefs defense and scored his second try in the match and Mo’unga converted for a 22-20 lead in the 74^th minute.

The Chiefs were awarded a crucial penalty in the 77^th minute which McKenzie missed before Mo’unga slotted the final penalty for the Crusaders in the added time of full time to seal the win.