Crusaders earn last-gasp tie
Crusaders scored an injury-time try to earn a hard-fought 26-26 draw with the Hurricanes and move up to second in the Super 14 table.
Last Updated: 04/04/10 12:10pm
High-flying Crusaders scored an injury-time try to earn a hard-fought 26-26 draw with the Hurricanes in Wellington and move up to second in the Super 14 table.
The visitors had looked to have blown the Hurricanes away when racing to an 18-0 lead after just 26 minutes.
But the home side produced a magnificent response and looked to have sealed the points before a Ti'i Paulo try three minutes over the 80 earned the tie, although Dan Carter missed with his conversion to win the game.
The high-flying Crusaders produced the perfect start against their derby hosts, opening the scoring after just three minutes when flanker George Whitelock touched over on the right side, although Carter missed the extras in what was an off night for him with the boot.
The home side were struggling for any sort of foothold in the game, missing tackles as the visitors began to build phase after phase of possession.
Carter extended the Crusaders' lead further through two penalties, the second pushing him over the 1,000 points mark in Super Rugby.
Controversy
Zac Guildford then scored the second try for the visitors on 25 minutes, although the touchdown was not without a dash of controversy.
A Piri Weepu clearance from his own 22 had looked to touch wing Sean Maitland before going out so when scrum-half Andy Ellis took a quick throw-in that led to the Hawke's Bay finisher crossing, it was no surprise that questions where asked by the men in yellow but the try was allowed to stand, with Carter adding the extras.
But the Hurricanes roared back in impressive fashion with two tries of their own in an five-minute spell heading into the break.
First to get the ball rolling was Ma'a Nonu, who scored a brilliant solo effort on 28 minutes after picking up a loose ball on the Crusaders 10m line and powering his way into the visitors' 22, before holding up two opponents and sliding over, with Willie Ripia adding the conversion.
In-form lock Jeremy Thrush then added a second try for the home side on 33 minutes after Cory Jane had got past three would-be tacklers before releasing him to touch down.
Fly-half Ripia added the conversion to cut the lead down to just four points before he was replaced by Aaron Cruden.
Second period
After the re-start, Weepu kicked two quick-fire penalties (49, 51) to give the Hurricanes a two point lead and complete a remarkable turnaround.
But the Crusaders bounced back in a see-saw battle with the boot, with Carter adding his own penalty on 55 minutes to re-establish the lead.
But Weepu added two more penalties soon afterwards (58, 64) to establish a five point lead for the home side, which seemed to be enough to seal the win.
But the visitors were not to be denied and Richie McCaw and his pack launched a barrage of pressure on the home try-line that extended the game well over the allotted 80 minutes before Paulo touched down to earn a share of the spoils and move his side into second in the Super 14 table, while the Hurricanes are up to seventh.
