A SENSATIONAL 45 metre Mitchell Hunt drop goal three minutes into injury time gave the Canterbury Crusaders a 25-22 win over the Otago Highlanders this morning in a Super Rugby clash that may have repercussions for the All Blacks.
It was the second heart-break finish for the Highlanders against the only unbeaten side in the competition after the Crusaders produced a stunning fightback to turn a 6-27 deficit into a 30-27 victory when they met in round two.
This time the Highlanders were up 22-19 with four minutes to go after a pair of Waisake Naholo tries early in the second half lifted them from a 19-10 deficit at the turn. But in the fallout from the frenetic, physical battle, key All Blacks Ben Smith and Ryan Crotty were injured and unable to play out the game.
Three weeks out from the first Test against the Lions, Highlanders fullback Ben Smith failed a concussion test and influential centre Ryan Crotty of Crusaders left the field with rib damage.
As they watched on from the sideline, the Highlanders looked to have laid their early season meltdown to rest until Crusaders replacement fly-half Hunt took the field.
With four minutes remaining he landed one penalty to tie the scores. When he missed a another shot the referee said there were only 10 seconds remaining.
Crusaders forwards fielded the restart and drove their way up field, making a metre at a time for nearly three minutes after the final hooter until Hunt banked over the match-winning drop goal.
Hunt said the tiring pack really gave him no choice.
“Wyatt Crockett turned around and said ‘do something with it’ and there wasn’t anything else I could do,” he said, admitting he was surprised the kick went over.
For a short player I can hardly punt it that far so I was pretty lucky with that kick.”
It was the Crusaders’ 14th consecutive victory, breaking the previous Super Rugby record of 13 set by the 2002 edition of the Crusaders.
The Highlanders, with their nine-match winning streak coming to an end, now almost certainly face a lengthy journey to South Africa.
The Crusaders started at a relentless pace, with the first try on the board after three minutes by Mitchell Drummond before Crotty put Seta Tamanivalu away for the second for a 12-0 lead after 15 minutes. But when Crusaders flanker Heiden Bedwell Curtis was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate foul, the Highlanders bounced back with a try to Richard Buckman and a conversion and penalty by Marty Banks while they had a one-man advantage.
Bedwell-Curtis marked his return to the field with a try for the Crusaders to hold a 19-10 at half-time.
The game turned in the space of five minutes after the resumption with Naholo’s double and the game became an arm wrestle until Hunt’s heroics at the close.
In Hamilton, a hat trick by Leinster-bound James Lowe helped the Waikato Chiefs survive a second half fightback by the NSW Waratahs to win 46-31.
The Chiefs looked to have the game sewn up with a 32-3 lead early in the second spell only for a resurgent Waratahs to close the gap to 39-31 before Lowe scored for the third time just before full-time to put victory beyond doubt.
The Waratahs four-try second half spurt, while it ultimately did them no favours, denied the Chiefs a bonus point which could prove crucial in the tightly packed new Zealand conference.
“It would have been even better if we had been able to get a bonus point out of that. In patches we played pretty well but again the consistency in performance is letting us down,” co-captain Aaron Cruden said.
The Chiefs play the Wellington Hurricanes next weekend in a match which could decide who finishes second in the New Zealand group with the reward of a likely quarter-final in Australia rather than a long trip to South Africa at stake.
New Zealand sides, led by the unbeaten Canterbury Crusaders, have already wrapped up the Australasian wildcards for the playoffs, while the Waratahs only hope of making the final eight is to win the Australian conference led by the ACT Brumbies.
But despite the second-half revival against the Chiefs the Waratahs came up short and remain nine points behind the Brumbies who have three games to play while the Waratahs have only two left.
While Lowe was setting the ground alight with his ability to find the line, fullback Damian McKenzie was sending a reminder to the All Blacks selectors of his potential with All Blacks coach Steve Hansen now sweating on the fitness of Ben Smith.
McKenzie, who leads the competition for carries and metres gained, was on top of his game with a hand in four of the Chiefs’ six tries, landed 16 points off the boot and was a constant thorn in the Waratahs defence with his ability to create space.
However, McKenzie did not help his cause with a wild pass that was intercepted by Rob Horne for the Waratahs first try. The diminutive McKenzie was then unable to bring down giant prop Sekope Kepu who galloped 60 metres for the Waratahs fourth and final try.
Tawera Kerr-Barlow scored twice for the Chiefs and Mitchell Brown also touched down while Will Skelton and Cameron Clark also scored for the Waratahs with Bernard Foley kicking four conversions and a penalty.
Yesterday, the Auckland Blues warmed up for Wednesday’s clash with the touring Lions by travelling to Samoa to beat the Queensland Reds 34 – 29.
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