The Crusaders, their season at a pivotal point after last weekend’s loss to the Blues in Christchurch, put on a second-half blitz against the Rebels in Sunday’s final Super Round match.
A bonus point victory for the Crusaders was a non-negotiable for Scott Robertson’s men, but the red and black machine, which stuttered against the Blues, took 40 minutes to work the rust out of its system at AAMI Park.
As it was, they got there with a 42-17 win, and moved up to third on the table behind the Blues and Reds.
The final score suggests a straightforward afternoon’s work for the Crusaders, but they led only 7-3 at halftime and the near constant stream of handling errors made it difficult for the visitors build their traditional continuity game.
Cullen Grace’s converted try was all they had to show for their territorial advantage as they appeared headed for a frustrating finale against a side with only two victories this season.
But gradually their quality shone through – certainly it did as far as wing Leicester Fainga’anuku and loose forward Pablo Matera were concerned. The pair linked superbly via a series of offloads and Matera, the former Argentina captain, enjoyed probably his best game since joining the Crusaders this season.
After conceding a couple of scrum penalties, the Crusaders’ traditional set piece also began to re-assert itself and Ethan Blackadder’s back-to-back tries just after halftime eased them into a far more comfortable scoreboard position as Richie Mo’unga, who has had a slow start to the season, began to boss the game.
The Rebels defence, so good in the first half, failed them as the Crusaders began to express themselves. Their most spectacular try went to replacement prop Tamaiti Williams, who scored in the left corner after a superb kick through and chase by Matera.
With the Brumbies beating the Highlanders on the same pitch earlier, the Rebels may have felt the tide was turning as far as the recent New Zealand dominance over Australian teams was concerned, but once the Crusaders got a grip of the basics, they controlled the match.
In what was virtually their only attack of the second half, the Rebels got their first try in the 72nd minute, Reece Hodge running on to a well-timed kick to go over by the posts and their second five minutes later via lock Matt Philip.
Fainga'anuku deservedly got on the scoreboard with a late try as the Rebels attempted to run it from deep.
After an ugly start, the Crusaders got their bonus point victory. Another huge plus for Robertson was the return from injury of All Blacks Sam Whitelock and Jack Goodhue – the latter has been out for 12 months with a knee injury.
Crusaders: 42 (Ethan Blackadder 2, Cullen Grace, Bryn Hall, Tamaiti Williams, Leicester Fainga'anuku tries; Richie Mo’unga 5 cons; Fergus Burke con)
Rebels: 17 (Reece Hodge, Matt Philip tries; Hodge pen, 2 cons)
Halftime: 7-3
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