Hurricanes 13 Crusaders 20
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The Crusaders may have paid a high price for their victory against the Hurricanes in Wellington tonight, with All Black first five-eighth Daniel Carter struck down by injury.
After leading 17-3 at halftime, the Crusaders held on to win 20-13 in front of a near-capacity crowd but will be sweating on the fitness of their key playmaker, who was assisted from the field in the 67th minute after injuring his leg making a tackle.
The Crusaders have a bye next week but with second five-eighth Stephen Brett out with a shoulder injury they will be hoping a week's rest is all Carter needs.
The Crusaders scored in the opening three minutes after Richie McCaw secured a turnover in the first ruck of the game.
The Crusaders controlled possession inside the Hurricanes' 22m before the ball shot out the side of a ruck, with Corey Flynn picking up the scraps and crashing over near the posts.
The Crusaders stretched their lead to 10 points through a Carter penalty 20 minutes in before Jimmy Gopperth opened the Hurricanes' account with a penalty of his own.
Hurricanes No 8 Rodney So'oialo then found out just how cruel the bounce of a rugby ball can be when he seemed to have a chip kick covered, after some enterprising attacking play from the Crusaders, only for the ball to bounce backwards into the arms of Ali Williams to score.
The teams exchanged penalties in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Piri Weepu taking over the kicking duties for the Hurricanes, but that was all there was until the 69th minute of the match as the defences cancelled each other out.
Mose Tuiali'i was sin binned after repeated infringements from the Crusaders and Andrew Hore scored immediately from close range to set up a frantic finish.
The Hurricanes clearly had the momentum in the final 10 minutes but made crucial errors which gifted the Crusaders possession and their forwards closed the game out in typical fashion.
Crusaders 20 (Corey Flynn, Ali Williams tries; Dan Carter 2 pen, 2 con), Hurricanes 13 (Andrew Hore try; Jimmy Gopperth pen, con; Piri Weepu pen). Halftime 17-3.
- NZ HERALD STAFF
