KEY POINTS:
The Brumbies joined the swell of boozers who will be drinking in the Last Chance Saloon this week after hanging on for a gutsy and deserved win in Canberra last night.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a team containing so many senior Wallabies and carrying such a rich heritage in
this competition, the Brumbies delivered when it really mattered. That's the Australian mentality for you. Put them under pressure, tell them they have to win to stay in the competition and they rise to the challenge.
It helped them no end that with with one foot already in the semifinals, the Crusaders played as if their other appendage was a dead weight they had no interest dragging into the safety zone.
That desperation from the Brumbies and strange lethargy from the Crusaders meant this was ugly - no advert for top level football.
The surface was greasy and there was a fair amount of emotion with Brumbies stalwarts George Gregan and Stephen Larkham playing their farewell games in Canberra.
The quite appalling officiating of Marius Jonker really didn't help either. Referees are an easy target but this season these fellas haven't done much to help their cause.
Jonker appeared to be making it up as he went along. His worst faux pas was pinging Mose Tuiali'i for coming in from the side when the Crusaders No 8 had in fact been the tackler.
But the blame for this game being dire has to be parked with the players.
Simple mistakes were a blight from start to finish and for that, there can't be any excuse. Even the imperious Dan Carter got a little flustered on occasions and there was just a hint that he was carrying a niggle that hampered his freedom of movement.
And with Carter not quite at full power and the Brumbies able to exploit the lax ruling around the offside line, the Crusaders never settled.
It was smart, streetwise football from the Brumbies and should have alarm bells ringing in New Zealand.
No question this country has the best individual talent in world rugby. No question they have the potential to blow every other team out of the water. But what must be a concern is that the Crusaders came under pressure last night and went to pieces, conceding four penalties before Larkham made things safe five minutes from time with a dropped goal.
It's a worry because the Crusaders are chock full of not only All Blacks, but senior All Blacks who the nation will be counting on not to go weak at the knees come October.
It still seems that the very best New Zealand teams can be shut down by a well organised rush defence. As the Brumbies showed, if an accurate long kicking game is employed in tandem with a blitz defence, New Zealand's best players get gripped by frustration and start pushing unnecessary passes.
Brumbies 15 (S. Mortlock 3 pens; J. Huxley pen; S. Larkham DG) Crusaders 6 (D. Carter 2 pens)
