The Crusaders have returned to the Final in a thriller, holding on to take down the Blues 21-14 in Christchurch.
The defending champions had over 40 phases of attack on the Crusaders’ line across multiple penalties. Still, they couldn’t send the game into extra time as Christian Lio-Willie dived on the loose ball in the 86th minute to seal the win.
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All Blacks superstar Will Jordan came up in the big moments, scoring a clutch double to break the deadlock as the hosts reeled in a 14-point deficit for the victory.
Jordan’s second try came with just over ten minutes to go after sustained pressure and multiple chances to kick penalties delivered the killer blow.
The Blues opened the scoring in the tenth minute when a smart kick in behind from AJ Lam forced a mistake and a five-metre scrum from the Crusaders.
This created the platform for Mark Tele’a to strike, diving over in the corner after Beauden Barrett’s cutout took advantage of the overlap.
The Crusaders compounded this try with a yellow card after Braydon Ennor collected Hoskins Sotutu high from the restart.
A similar situation set up their second try via Rieko Ioane after he powered over the line for a 14-0 lead.
The hosts quickly went to work after returning to full numbers, with Tom Christie lifting the home crowd with their first points of the night.
A yellow card to Joshua Fusitu’a only fuelled their momentum, and try-scoring freak Will Jordan was there to spin over and level the game right before the break.
Half-time came at the perfect time for the Blues, who went back on the attack as they pressed the hosts’ line.
Ricky Riccitelli was held up over the line as the Crusaders held strong for long enough to keep the game level.
Injured cruelled the Blues, with multiple front-rowers forced off at various moments of the game.
It saw hooker Kurt Eklund forced to play prop which allowed the Crusaders to build pressure.
A rash moment from Sotutu gifted the Crusaders a penalty ten metres out as they earned penalty after penalty on the Blues’ line.
Eventually, it was too much for the Blues to stop as Jordan crossed for his second in the 13th phase of the attack.
The task became tougher for the visitors after a head clash between Sotutu and Fihaki left the number eight sitting on the sidelines for the rest of the game.
Despite this, they had several chances at the siren to replicate last week’s heroics and send the game into Super Time.
They kicked for the line ten metres from the line and spent 38 phases attacking the Crusaders' line with no luck, but another penalty advantage allowed them to reset.
Tele’a went close to the line, but the Crusaders’ number eight turned the ball over well into extra time to seal their place in the final.
The win ensures the Final will be played at Apollo Projects Stadium, the last game before the Crusaders move to the new stadium, as they host either the Chiefs or ACT Brumbies.
Crusaders 21 (Jordan 2, T. Christie tries; Reihana 3 cons) def Blues 14 (Tele'a, Ioane tries; B. Barrett 2 cons)
