Familiar issue haunts Crusaders again in 'arm-wrestle' loss to Highlanders

The Crusaders have three games left to save their Super Rugby Pacific season after falling 32-29 to the Highlanders in an all-time classic southern derby on Saturday evening at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium.

With just two wins from 11 matches, the Crusaders sit second-last on the ladder with only a few regular season matches to play. The good news is the defending champions are only three points behind the eighth-placed Fijian Drua.

Young playmaker Cam Millar enjoyed a career-best performance in the Highlanders’ NO 10 jersey with the pivot starring with a 21-point haul in the first half alone which went a long way to securing the decisive victory.

All Black Sevu Reece scored a try for the Crusaders just after the half-time interval but they wouldn’t score for almost another 40 minutes as the men from right down south held on for a win that has them well placed for finals football.

As for the Crusaders, they’ll go back to the drawing board ahead of crunch clashes against competition heavyweights the Brumbies and Blues before facing Moana Pasifika in their final match on May 31.

“It was an arm wrestle. We let in a few points in that first half,” captain Codie Taylor said on Sky Sport NZ after the match.

“Against the Landers who, they get a lot of confidence off the back of that at their home ground, it’s hard to claw your way back.

“I thought we played quite well when we had the ball in the first half and then we probably lost our way in the second getting caught in between the halfway, 40s area.

“Like I said, we looked really well when we had the ball. It’s when we didn’t have the ball we sort of lost our way – we weren’t winning collisions,” he added. “We talked about that all week.

“Our discipline let us down and that’s something that’s been happening the last few weeks. You can’t do that in this competition because you just get punished for it.”

Before the match, the Sky Sport broadcast showed a stat that suggested the Highlanders would have more than a 90 per cent chance of making the playoffs this season if they could get the better of their Kiwi foe.

The Highlanders had lost 19 games on the bounce against New Zealand opposition heading into this match-up, but it quickly became clear that this would be their night in front of a vibrant fan at the Dunedin venue.

Macca Springer scored a try for the Crusaders in the 81^st minute which made the game seem closer than what it actually was. The Highlanders were firmly in control and deserved their three-point victory over the Saders.

“Extremely proud of the boys. (It was) a hell of a shift,” captain Ethan de Groot said post-game.

“You’ve got to give it to the Crusaders though, you can never take them too lightly. So proud of the boys on their effort tonight.

“I’ve got to put it down to those massive D-sets,” he added. “The boys never gave up.

“I’ll put it down to our defence tonight. The boys worked hard for each other.”