Credit / Sky Sport
The Canterbury Crusaders are Super Rugby champions for a fifth time, beating a Chiefs team that were deserved finalists but could not quite pull off the upset they had hoped for, going down 24-13 in Christchurch on Saturday night.
The Crusaders went into the halftime break only 15-10 ahead and despite having two players yellow carded in the second half were still able to close out the game and win a second consecutive Super Rugby Aotearoa title.
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Post-match Crusaders coach Scott Robertson expressed pride in his team and signalled he also has an eye on trans-Tasman Super Rugby honours, with the competition set to kick off this Friday.
"I'm really proud to coach this team but it's only half the season done."
Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan paid tribute to the Crusaders but also expressed disappointment his team could not swing the game their way.
"You've got to give credit to the Crusaders," he said. "They've been there, they've done that and they always win those big moments when it really matters."
"We're really disappointed in the result because we felt like we had our chances there, just not quite good enough to apply the blowtorch when we had those opportunities."
Crusaders 24 (Sevu Reece, Will Jordan tries; Richie Mo'unga con, 3 pen, dropped goal) Chiefs 13 (Damian McKenzie try; con, 2 pen).
HT: 15-10