The Auckland Blues clung on to clock their first win against the Canterbury Crusaders at Christchurch in 18 years and top the Super Rugby Pacific table lead-ing into the trans-Tasman component of the compe-tition next week.
A try-saving tackle by Blues captain Dalton Pa-palii and centre Rieko Ioane in the 78th minute al-lowed them to clinch a long-awaited victory 27-23 and underline their championship credentials.
With the ACT Brumbies having a bye this weekend, it propelled them above the Canberra side on points differential to the top of the 12-team table after round nine. The Crusaders slipped to fourth behind the Reds after the Queenslanders’ nail-biting 36-32 win over the Rebels in Melbourne.
The weekend action marked the last of the local derbies, played due to Covid-enforced border clo-sures between Australia and New Zealand.
With the crossing now open, the competition’s remaining six rounds will see Australian-based teams meet their trans-Tasman counterparts.
In Christchurch, the Crusaders lost captain Scott Barrett to a red card for a high shoulder charge in the 46th minute when they were trailing 17-10.
With the big lock off the field, they conceded a converted try which gave the Blues a 24-10 advan-tage before a late fightback sent the game to a nerve-wracking finish. Blues coach Leon MacDonald admitted the win had been a long time coming.—AFP
