Late try seals it for Crusaders
Five penalties from Dan Carter and a late try to Kahn Fotuali'i' was enough to see off the Waratahs 20-13 in a tight Super 14 clash.
Last Updated: 11/04/10 10:51am
Don't be fooled, Carter had a nightmare with the boot for his own standards - missing four from nine attempts - and allowed the Waratahs a losing bonus point after fluffing a last-minute penalty kick.
Perhaps it was just reward for the visitors who dominated the Crusaders up until the 77th minute before scrum-half Fotuali'i' made up for his yellow card in the first half, by dotting over for the match-winner.
In the space of two weeks, Todd Blackadder's men were given the benefit of the doubt by the TMO in another controversial decision that went the way of his team after it looked like the try-scorer had lost control of the ball.
But that's the way the cookie crumbles and the Crusaders, who have now leapfrogged the Waratahs on the Super 14 ladder, will be relieved to have come out tops.
Tries were hard to come by in the hard-fought battle as a combination of good defence, poor handling and poor discipline meant the bulk of the points came from goal kickers Carter, Daniel Halangahu and Berrick Barnes, although all three were not always on target.
The closest either side came to a try in the first half was in the 19th minute when Richie McCaw was only denied by some excellent defensive work by Phil Waugh who firstly held up the All Blacks skipper over the line then ripped the ball from his grasp to dot it down for a 22 drop out.
Pressure
Waugh, who only passed a late fitness test on a quad injury, had a big game, making some vital tackles and getting through a mountain of work in the forward exchanges.
Neither side was able to make the most of the opportunities they did create as they turned over ball far too regularly to get any kind of continuity going.
Instead it came down to goal-kicking, although even that was patchy with Carter converting only two of his four penalties in the first half and Halangahu one from two before Barnes stepped up to level the scores at 6-6 with the Waratahs' second close to half-time.
That penalty was a result of what South African referee Craig Joubert deemed to be a dangerous tackle by Fotuali'i on Barnes although the decision to send the Crusaders scrum-half sent to the sinbin seemed a harsh one.
An early penalty to Carter kick-started the scoring in the second half.
But as the Waratahs' handling improved the pressure they were able to exert on the Crusaders increased as well as the home side started to concede penalties.
Defence
Barnes' first effort came back off the post but when Brad Thorn was pinged for a high tackle on Benn Robinson the Waratahs opted to kick for the line-out and from there drove hard at the Crusaders' line.
Over 20 phases later - after Drew Mitchell had been stopped short and the Crusaders began to drive the Waratahs back - Halangahu put a neat grubber kick in behind the defence and Rob Horne pounced for the game's first try.
Halangahu's conversion put the Australians 13-9 up before Carter banged over another two penalties to get the Crusaders back in front.
The last one was marginal as Kurtley Beale looked to be on-side when he set off to intercept Fotuali'i's pass for what would have been a certain try.
Instead it was the Waratahs who had to dig deep on defence as the Crusaders carted the ball up through the forwards and hammered away at the visitors' line.
They repelled two such raids but could not hold the home side out for a third time when Joubert - in consultation with TV match official Garratt Williamson who missed Andy Ellis' illegal quick throw-in in the Crusaders' draw with the Hurricanes last week - awarded Fotuali'i the try.
