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Result: Cruising Crusaders clinch semi-final berth
By Jack Davies
The Crusaders breezed into the Super Rugby semi-finals with a 17-0 victory over the Highlanders at AMI Stadium on Saturday.
On a rain-soaked evening in Christchurch, All Blacks Kieran Read and Codie Taylor crossed for first-half tries before a scoreless second period saw the home side into the last four.
The result - a departure from the three-point margin of the two regular-season matches between these sides - earns the Crusaders a home tie against the Stormers or the Chiefs, who meet in Cape Town later on Saturday.
The Highlanders lost Liam Squire to the sin bin inside five minutes and Richie Mo'unga - the man on the receiving end of the flanker's late tackle - kicked the first points of the match from the resulting penalty.
The Crusaders were dominating possession and territory but saw two opportunities to stretch the advantage pass them by as Mo'unga struggled with tricky conditions.
Read eventually made the pressure count with a try after 33 minutes, crashing over from a pick and go before Mo'unga rediscovered his kicking boots.
Another try followed on the stroke of half-time as Taylor snuck over, and Mo'unga's third successful kick proved to be the last points-scoring action of the match.
The Highlanders had left themselves with too much to do as the rain continued to pour down, making handling increasingly difficult as full-time approached, and the Crusaders held on to maintain their bid for a first title since 2008.
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Latest Comments
The New Zealand performance in the return fixture in 2016 was filthy. A lot of Irish supporters were pretty shocked by it, viewed it as de facto cheating just to avoid another defeat.
Also shocked by the abuse to Ireland, captain, vice-captain and spectators after the full time whistle in Paris defeat, last match.
Sledging is sledging, but that happens during the game and targetting spectators should be completely out of bounds.
The Irish public used to enjoy these matches, even in defeat. Now they are necessary but unpleasant, because NZ apparently cannot accept or respect successful challengers.
Go to commentsThanks for the analysis Nick, thought provoking as usual. Couple of queries though, in the pic where you've circled Williams bind , I'm pretty sure it shows Stuart's knee on the ground, surely that's a NZ penalty? Also having had the chance to watch it again the All Black scrum seeems to improve after halftime, but before either England or the All Blacks replace their props. Not sure if that was the result of Tuipolutu coming on or some halftime tips. Either way this is only Williams second international season, so he'll be better for the experience.
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