Crusaders captain Richie McCaw said it had been part of the plan to minimise chances for Reds halfback Will Genia but he had scored the vital try in his side's Super Rugby success in Brisbane on Saturday.
"He's dangerous if you allow him time and space to run with the ball so we made sure we shut that down and for a lot of the game we did that. He's a classy player and even though things didn't go totally the way he wanted in the first half he still took that opportunity when it popped up," he said.
McCaw said there was no correlation between Super Rugby success and the World Cup.
Different players were involved and he hadn't thought about the World Cup yet.
Coach Todd Blackadder said the Crusaders had chances but hadn't executed them.
"It was tough, it's been tough all year but I'm really proud of what this team's done to get to this point," he said.
"We come to win and it is disappointing when you don't but I'm not going to take anything away from a team that I am really proud of. I don't think anyone could do what we have done to get to this point."
"But we came up against a really good Reds team that played well tonight and took their opportunities, so congratulations to them. I thought they did really well and the way they have performed all year they probably deserved it."
Captain Richie McCaw said pressure and one or two mistakes could make all the difference and that was what had happened.
"We didn't do what we intended but that is what happens in these sorts of games. If we don't get it quite right we come second," he said.
McCaw said he felt the Crusaders didn't get the rewards they deserved from the opportunities they created in the first half and their mistakes had allowed the Reds down the Crusaders end of the field.
In the second half the fact they had gained only three points instead of a possible seven when lock Brad Thorn went across the line had been disappointing.
"They're little moments in the game that could be the tipping point in terms of getting momentum and I guess it swung back to the Reds and once we went behind we were forced into mistake," he said.
McCaw said he briefly thought of calling for a scrum at that stage but there was still plenty of time in the game and he felt the right decision was to take the three points on offer from the penalty.
Blackadder said it was tough to win on the road and eight out of the last nine finals had been won by home teams.