Though they may meet again in 2026, the Crusaders have landed a significant psychological blow ahead of the Super Rugby playoffs.
By Jonty Dine of RNZ
In the final round of the regular season, the Crusaders celebrated Sevu Reece's century with a commanding 47-14 win under the roof at Te Kaha.
Without their greatest strike weapon in Will Jordan and with Ethan Blackadder a late scratching, the Crusaders ran riot at their new fortress.
The win leaves the side into third on the table, the Blues now needing a win in Hamilton to gain hometown advantage next weekend.
Centurion Reece celebrated his milestone with the opening try, darting in from the base of the ruck to put his side on the board.
The Hurricanes replied right away, Brad Shields muscling over after Cam Roigard sucked in defenders running from the ruck.
Cue a Crusaders scoring spree.
The hosts ran in three unanswered tries before the break, the best coming on the back of a breathtaking counter attack.
Chay Fihaki would snatch it after a prolonged Hurricanes attack, the Crusaders firing it wide for David Havili to make a surging break upfield.
He linked with Christian Lio-Willie who found a superb offload to Noah Hotham to cap off the full field cracker.
Johnny McNicoll extended the advantage through controversial fashion, replays showing he may have lost control as he tried to grass it.
Another blow before the break came as Lio-Willie powered over in the corner after Reece exploded through a hole and flicked it on for McNicoll to send his number eight away.
A halftime mishap saw the stadium awash with smoke.
"Tonight we tried something different for our Men's Mental Health Match, but the halftime pyrotechnics didn't quite go to plan, leaving haze over the field longer than we'd hoped," a post on the Crusaders' social media explained.
"Apologies for the disruption and thanks for your patience while it cleared. Every week in a new stadium brings a few lessons and we'll keep learning!"
After oranges, the match both opened up and fell apart.
With the benches cleared early, there was plenty of enterprise, with little execution.
"It's a lolly scramble," was the description from Sky commentator Justin Marshall.
However, the sides managed to strung another three tries together, the first coming after 15 minutes of chaos, replacement hooker Manumaua Letiu
The Hurricanes would get a consolation as Pouri Rakete Stones rumbles over form close range, only for the Crusaders to reply immediately through a McNicoll linebreak, linking with Kyle Preston.
Reece would bookend his 100th with a brace, waltzing in as the Canes tried to run it from deep but had the ball ripped.
Beware the defending champs.
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