Crusaders crush lacklustre Reds

Rico Gear scored two of the eight Crusaders tries against the Reds today. Picture / Fotopress

The Reds took a hammering in front of an enthusiatic Nelson crowd today, as the Crusaders ran away with the game to win 59-24.

15,000 punters packed into Trafalgar Park, which acted as the Crusaders' home turf this week while Jade Stadium is being occupied by the Black Caps.

There was plenty to cheer about as the game became a try-fest with 12 scored overall, and is the second week in a row that the Crusaders have stacked 50 points on an opponent.

The Reds showed signs of early brilliance with good vision by the backs and a good pickup by Chris Latham resulting in a well-constructed Junior Pelesala try.

However the home side, who posted a 50-18 scoreline last week against the Chiefs, put enormous pressure on the Reds by taking charge at scrumtime.

A crafty intercept by Justin Marshall created space for captain Richie McCaw, but desperate Reds defence stopped him metres out from the line.

Persistence paid off for the Crusaders, who eventually found the tryline through powerful centre Casey Laulala.

Laulala left the field soon after with a suspected pinched nerve in his shoulder and the Reds also lost a key player in captain and goalkicker Elton Flatley, who suffered a head gash just before halftime.

The Reds battled hard to gain ground but then repeatedly undid all their handiwork by losing the ball over to the Crusaders.

Aaron Mauger scored a brilliant individual try off a turnover in the 20th minute and tries to Carter and Rico Gear had the Crusaders' bonus point wrapped up by half time.

The second half fared not much better for the Reds and the Crusaders added insult to injury with tries to replacement backs Scott Hamilton and Andrew Mehrtens, the latter earning a great cheer from fans.

Of concern to the Reds camp would be the loss of playmaking winger Wendell Sailor, who limped off with a leg injury.

The visitors bit back and managed to take control of the game for the last 20 minutes, scoring two tries to Greg Holmes and Chris Latham and setting the side up for a bonus point target.

They didn't have to wait long as a Pelesasa intercept resulted in a more respectable scoreline for the Reds and a second try for Pelesasa.

But it was Gear who had the last say, scoring the Crusaders' eighth try of the day after the final hooter and taking the score to 59-24.

* Fulltime scoreboard

Crusaders 59 (Rico Gear 2, Casey Laulala, Aaron Mauger, Scott Hamilton, Richie McCaw, Daniel Carter, Andrew Mehrtens tries; Carter 3 pen, 4 con; Mehrtens con)

Reds 24 (Junior Pelesasa 2, Greg Holmes, Chris Latham tries; Julian Huxley 2 con).

Halftime: 35-5.