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Crusaders overcome early Chiefs onslaught to remain unbeaten in Super Rugby Aotearoa

(Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

The Crusaders have maintained their undefeated start to the Super Rugby Aotearoa season by picking up a 39-17 win over the Chiefs in Christchurch.

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The victory wasn’t without controversy, nor was it an easy win as they had to fight back from an early 10-0 deficit in the opening stages of the encounter.

A Damian McKenzie try little more than a minute after kick-off was followed by a conversion and penalty from the Chiefs fullback, but that was as good as it got for the visitors who have now gone 11 games without victory.

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A spectacular finish by Leicester Fainga’anuku in the left-hand corner brought the Crusaders to within five points after about a quarter of an hour, and a couple of penalties by Richie Mo’unga edged the hosts to an 11-10 lead at half-time.

It was in the second half where things really began to ramp up for the reigning champions, though, as Mo’unga spearheaded their attack and asserted himself on the game in the manner that won him Super Rugby Aotearoa Player of the Year in 2020.

Using his twinkletoes to elude an array of Chiefs defenders, Mo’unga was instrumental in the Crusaders’ fightback, although the Chiefs weren’t helped by some questionable refereeing decisions that saw the home side’s lead extended early in the second half.

A line break by Mo’unga was followed by an attempted offload while he was in the tackle of Brad Weber, who seemingly forced the Crusaders pivot to throw a forward pass.

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The Crusaders seized on the loose ball and were eventually held up over the line, but a TMO referral and a failed captain’s challenge controversially led to the call that Weber had deflected Mo’unga’s offload to cause it to go forward.

The Chiefs halfback was then ruled to have stopped Fainga’anuku from scoring while in an offside position, which resulted in a penalty try and a yellow card to Weber.

From there, the Crusaders juggernaut rolled on as Mo’unga continued to wreak havoc with the Chiefs’ defence as he assisted Will Jordan’s try and continued to apply a ton of pressure with ball in hand to help guide Whetu Douglas over the line.

The relentless attack didn’t fold, as Mitchell Dunshea crossed the line with 10 minutes to play while the opposition defence was at sixes and sevens to put the result well beyond doubt.

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An Etene Nanai-Seturo try with about seven minutes to play offered little consolation as the Chiefs continue their search for a long-awaited win, a feat they haven’t achieved in over a year.

The Crusaders, one the other hand, remain in pole position to retain their Super Rugby Aotearoa crown with three wins from three matches and will head into next week’s clash with the Blues in Auckland brimming with confidence.

Crusaders 39 (Tries to Leicester Fainga’anuku, Will Jordan, Whetu Douglas and Mitchell Dunshea; 2 conversions and 2 penalties to Richie Mo’unga, conversion to Fergus Burke)

Chiefs 17 (Tries to Damian McKenzie and Etene Nanai-Seturo; 2 conversions and penalty to McKenzie; yellow card to Brad Weber)

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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