Crusaders playmaker Richie Mo'unga collected 28 points on Sunday afternoon with an impeccable nine-from-nine kicking display. Photosport
Crusaders playmaker Richie Mo'unga collected 28 points on Sunday afternoon with an impeccable nine-from-nine kicking display. Photosport
Richie Mo'unga beamed with satisfaction after the Crusaders took a major step towards a fifth successive Super Rugby title at Eden Park.
After two false starts – the previous Covid-19 outbreaks cancelled matches against the Blues – Mo'unga felt the hype surrounding the top-of-the-table encounter.
Locals arrived hopeful, expectant even, after the Blues knocked off the Hurricanes and Highlanders in their first two matches this season, only for Mo'unga and Scott Robertson's Crusaders to extend their seven-year dominance over the Auckland franchise to 13 games with relative ease.
The All Blacks playmaker collected 28 points on Sunday afternoon with an impeccable nine-from-nine kicking display that also included one second-half try, and he admitted the Blues were the scalp the Crusaders craved.
"I'm very pleased and proud. This is the one everyone wanted, the one everyone has been waiting for. This is the one I really wanted to play in and win," Mo'unga said after the 43-27 victory maintained the Crusaders unbeaten record this season and kept them odds on to host the final.
"Every week we have a huge target on our back and everyone wants to take us down. That's a privilege, that's something we look forward to. For us it's about living up to that.
"When you're playing the Blues there's a lot of hype. For us it's about staying true to our work-ethic values, being humble and being the best you can be for the team.
"There were some outstanding performances out there – Sam Whitelock and the boys in the front-row really put on a show but there's 10 other guys in that team you won't mention who rolled their sleeves up and were unreal."
Crusaders playmaker Richie Mo'unga after the side's Super Rugby Aotearoa win over the Blues. Photosport
With the Blues and Crusaders scoring four tries each Mo'unga's boot proved pivotal in punishing regular and frustrating ill-discipline. Blues prop Ofa Tuungafasi's late yellow card for his cleanout that collected Scott Barrett's chin and replacement hooker Kurt Eklund throwing Sevu Reece off the ball, which resulted in the penalty being reversed, were but two instances the Blues were left to regret.
"It's not how we've won in the past but the Blues defensively put us under pressure and with momentum swings and out the gate reverse penalties... it was all happening. It was good confidence for us, knocking over those threes," Mo'unga said of his five successful penalties. "We can do both ways, win in threes or score tries. Today was a bit more of a test match.
"I like these moments in the pressure cooker. That's where I want to be, that's where I perform my best. It brings out the best in me, in the team. A few times in that game we were under the pump and you look around and you've got all these eyes looking at you and that gives you a good indication they don't want to be anywhere else either."
In terms of warding off complacency and getting his team to deliver consistency every week, Robertson continues to set the bar for leadership. The winning feeling is one the Crusaders are determined not to let slip as they march ominously towards more silverware.
"When you start winning, you get on a roll, it becomes habitual and you love that feeling - it's pretty addictive," Robertson said. "You get a reminder now and again when you're not quite on so we've got to stay on."
Nine points clear of their rivals, the Crusaders now enter the bye week before returning to host the Highlanders in Christchurch on April 2.
"Sometimes when you have a bye you can lose your rhythm so we're happy with our four wins and those results."
