Crusaders 26 Blues 22
View photosKEY POINTS:
The Blues huffed and puffed against the Crusaders last night but in the end it amounted to nowt but hot air.
Unless you count an all-but useless bonus point.
No matter how narrow, unfortunate or meritorious, a defeat is still a defeat. For the Blues it was their fifth in seven matches, all but ending their Super 14 playoff hopes.
As it so often does in the tight ones, last night's error-ridden but open and entertaining match came down to centimeters. The Crusaders certainly got the rub of the white wash, being awarded a crucial try despite a boot appearing to touch the sideline in the buildup. The Blues were denied two, when Troy Flavell's hip hit the chalk before the ball hit the ground and when Anthony Tuitavake was ddragged down agonisingly short.
"We got across the advantage line and the opportunities we got we finished," Crusaders captain Richie McCaw said.
The same couldn't be said for the Blues, who created a host of chances on the back of a dominant scrum but lacked the polish to finish most them.
The Crusaders edged a tight first half thanks to tries from McCaw and Corey Flynn.
McCaw's opener came after a sustained period of Crusaders pressure. Leon MacDonald had fluffed an overlap moments earlier but he made amends by stepping inside the badly out of sorts Isa Nacewa to create a simple finish for McCaw as the Crusaders made the most of space provided by the experimental scrum law.
Nacewa had a poor first half after surprisingly switching roles with regular first five-eighths Nick Evans. The unannounced change did little to settle the Blues, whose approach was lively enough but lacking in any obvious gameplan.
Their free-form game was best illustrated by halfback Taniela Moa's curious decision to bomb from the base of a scrum inside the Crusaders 22. If the bizzarre move was rehearsed, it didn't look like it.
On other occasions Nacewa wasted great attacking ball with harmless chips and grubbers into the Crusaders in-goal.
The Crusaders weren't quite as loose but neither were they their typically measured selves.
Flynn's wildly fluctuating fortunes rather summed up their display. When Keiran Read sucked in Daniel Braid and offloaded cleverly, Flynn showed surprising pace to finish from 20 metres and extend the Crusaders' lead.
But the hooker quickly turned villain, missing Jerome Kaino badly as the flanker sent Rudi Wulf away in the corner to get the Blues on the board.
A raking Tuitavake break almost resulted in a second Blues try but after dancing around Andy Ellis the livewire centre tripped over his own feet and the move broke down.
Nick Williams' bullocking effort put the Blues in front two minutes after the break but their lead was short-lived as Flynn grabbed his second, backing up well after Tim Bateman had sliced through from the kickoff and released Andy Ellis.
The Blues were dominant at scrum time but struggled in the lineouts as defector Ali Williams made a nuisance of himself.
A missed Stephen Brett penalty kept the Blues within a try and a long-range Evans penalty cut the gap to two as Flynn's night took another turn for the worse, sin binned for a high tackle on David Smith as he chased his own clearing kick.
Once again it was Bateman who turned the tables for the Crusaders, chipping ahead cleverly for Sean Maitland. The winger's foot seemed to touch the sideline but he offloaded inside to McCaw who in turn sent replacement hooker Ti'i Paulo over.
The Blues had efforts by Troy Flavell and Tuitavake denied following TV replays before Smith went over in the corner to give them hope four minutes from time.
Evans missed the sideline conversion attempt, leaving the Blues requiring a try to save their season. They might have done just that had Evans not fluffed his lines in the final act, putting a touch finding penalty kick dead in goal.
Crusaders 26 R McCaw, C Flynn 2, T Paulo tries; S Brett 3 con
Blues 22 R Wulf, N Williams, David Smith tries; N Evans 2 con, pen
Halftime: 12-5
