The Crusaders will have one last dance with departing coach Scott Robertson after putting on a Super Rugby masterclass in the first half of tonight's semifinal against the Blues in Christchurch.
It was near perfection at times; the relentless attack winning the contact, composed defence forcing mistakes and so many impressive individual performances Ian Foster may have to head back to his lists ahead of Sunday's All Blacks squad announcement.
It started from the first minute with an early Blues error giving the Crusaders an attacking platform and they didn't disappoint as Braydon Ennor crossed over in the first of six Crusaders tries in just the third minute.
From there, they just dominated with more numbers at the rucks, more pace on the attack and more heart in the game.
That isn't to say the Blues didn't try but handling errors and an uncharacteristically poor passing game ruined plenty of promising responses and every time Robertson's men were there to pounce.
Leicester Fainga'anuku, who had another incredible outing, was the first to cash in before Will Jordan - another strong contributor added another in the 35th minute.
Beauden Barrett removed the Blues' goose egg from the scoreboard with a penalty kick but that was as good as it got for the shell-shocked visitors tonight as things went from bad to worse first with a yellow card to Hoskins Sotutu for entering the side of a promising Crusaders maul near his tryline.
Sure enough, the Crusaders cashed in again as Codie Taylor smuggled the ball over at the back of another maul, taking the scoreline to 32-3 at the half.
Needless to say, the Blues were hurting at the break. After a week of vowing to finally get one back on their longtime rivals, the first 40 minutes in Christchurch tonight were about as far from the whiteboard as possible and not the way Leon MacDonald deserved to go out as their coach.
Blues assistant coach Craig McGrath said the breakdown was the biggest issue at the half among plenty they had to resolve to somehow keep their season alive.
"We don't bring any physicality in our tackle and that's easy, quick ball," McGrath said.
"And at our breakdown too, the ball is slow which allows them to get set and get off the line again... we just have to lower our body height and win that race in that space."
It didn't help then that Fainga'anuku started the second half with a brilliant solo effort, slicing clean through the Blues' line off a another slick play and making his way to the line for a second visit tonight.
The Blues did start to show some grit at the breakdown from then on though. Was it too late? Sure, but the side showed some heart to keep fighting and eventually they were rewarded with a Barrett try as he sold a dummy and ran through the gap to score.
The Crusaders made sure they had the last laugh though, eventually responding with a Richie Mo'unga - also impressive ahead of a potentially-thrilling final clash against Damian McKenzie should the Chiefs beat the Brumbies tomorrow night in Hamilton - setting up Fergus Burke.
That made it 49-8 with seven minutes to go and a Mo'unga penalty in the final moments brought up the 50, although Caleb Clarke gave the Blues something to grin at after the final hooter with a consolation try.
However the result adds another disappointing playoffs chapter to the Blues' record books at the hands of the Crusaders after last year's heartbreak in the final at Eden Park and a tough final entry in MacDonald's tenure as their coach.
But with his new boss headed to a seventh-straight final the Crusaders will get their shot to send him and club stalwarts such as Mo'unga, Sam Whitelock and others off the only way they've known how in the past seven years of this truly remarkable dynasty - champions.
Crusaders 52 [Leicester Fainga'anuku 2, Braydon Ennor, Will Jordan, Codie Taylor, Fergus Burke tries; Richie Mounga 4 pen, 5 con]
Blues 15 [Beauden Barrett, Caleb Clarke tries; Beauden Barrett 1 pen, 1 con]
HT: 32-3
SHARE ME