A strong second-half performance, when the scrum became dominant, took the Crusaders to a 25-19 win over the Chiefs in their clash at McLean Park, Napier, on Saturday night.
It was hardly vintage Crusaders rugby, especially in an error-riddled first half which ended at 6-6, but the seven-times Super champion moved up a gear in the second half and spent most of that 40 minutes inside Chiefs territory, first five-eighths Dan Carter converting on the penalty chances that arose.
The Chiefs picked up a bonus-point with their only try after the final siren sounded, one which looked hard to justify. The Crusaders were also held to just one try, but Carter was in top form and contributed 20 points with his boot.
Crusaders captain Richie McCaw said the team was running on empty at half-time and knew it had to strike early in the second half. Lock Luke Romano did that and the Crusaders dictated for most of the second half.
The Crusaders regathered their kick-off, strung together 13 phases, and won a penalty which Carter converted from 32m. From the restart, the Chiefs received a penalty when flanker George Whitelock infringed and first five-eighths Stephen Donald equalised with an angled penalty.
To start with, Carter missed an easy dropped goal attempt from in front after eight minutes, but Romano had blown a great try-scoring chance a little earlier by taking the tackle with men unmarked outside him.
A McCaw handling blunder cost his team three points after 15 minutes, the Chiefs going on attack and winning a penalty which Donald converted from in front for a 6-3 lead. Whitelock conceded his third penalty after 23 minutes, but Donald hooked his 47m penalty attempt.
A nice break by wing Zac Guildford set up a scoring opportunity for the Crusaders on the half hour, but handling errors continued to plague the home team. Both teams were spinning the ball wide but ball retention was a problem, especially for the Crusaders.
Donald was caught off-side in the last minute before half-time and Carter landed a simple penalty goal from in front to bring up his 100 points for the season and level the score at 6-6.
Romano scored the first try soon after the kick-off, running on to a long pass from a lineout and breaking the defensive line on a 15m burst, Carter converting from close range for a 13-6 lead. A scrum penalty against the Chiefs then cost them three more points in the 47th minute with Carter on target from 42m.
Donald pulled three points back with his third penalty in the 49th minute, but Carter missed an opportunity to negate that when his penalty kick hit the upright after 53 minutes. He made no mistake, however, when the Chiefs conceded a scrum penalty near their line and Carter kicked the angled penalty to give his team a 19-9 lead.
After 59 minutes he had his sixth penalty shot, this time from 47m, but he pushed it to the left. Donald slotted a 42m penalty goal after 66 minutes to close the gap to seven points. The Crusaders scrum was now dominant and conceded a tight-head, but flanker Liam Messam did well to win a scrum feed for the Chiefs after 68 minutes.
Carter dropped a goal in the 72nd minute to extend the lead to 10 points. A broken