CRUSADERS CHAMPIONS AGAIN!!!

CRUSADERS 19 HURRICANES 12.

A try from Casey Laulala inside the final twenty minutes sealed a 19-12 win for the Crusaders over the Hurricanes in the inaugural Super 14 Final at Jade Stadium in Christchurch on Saturday.

It was a bizarre, almost eerie match, with heavy fog making it impossible at times to see play on the far side and even the players had trouble seeing the ball in the testing conditions.

But the Crusaders, as usual, had an answer - one crucial try at the business end of the game.

When the siren went to end the match, it was a fog horn, which was entirely appropriate. The match was a foggy flop, the players reduced to ghosts in the mist.

Pity the spectators at the ground and round the world. After the great build-up between these two great teams, little patches of match only were visible and then they too had an eeriness bout them.

Forget seeing anything that happened 30 metres away except sometimes in vague outline when the fog was kinder. Some spectators left the ground and some huddled near the big screen in the hope of seeing something.

It will be forever the fog-bound Final. It was far, far worse than the sleet Final of Canberra.

It effected the sound as well. Instead of a roar there was a murmur and that from those privileged enough to hear.

How to play was effected. Passing was not the best idea and so the teams resorted to high kicks and pick-'n-go.

Teams? One team, really, for the Crusaders had an almost total hold on possession and territory.

That the score was only 6-3 to them at half-time was really because of the fog and the defensive qualities of the Hurricanes, especially that of Jerry Collins.

The Hurricanes had their problems. Neemia Tialata hurt his right knee early on, Piri Weepu took a knock to the head when he got his head on the sworn side of a tackle and then Chris Masoe hurt a left knee. All three soldiered on.

There were also problems for the Hurricanes in getting first-phase possession. Their scrums crumbled, and in the line-outs Chris Jack was master. The line-outs went 21 throws to the Crusaders' to eight to the Hurricanes, symptom that the Hurricanes were on the defensive for most of the match.

Still the visitors were resolute and the climate a telling factor, leaving the match to be decided by the only try. One try in a match played by two of the most creative and skilled teams in the world. That try took 63 minutes in coming.

The match had three emotional outbursts. Richie McCaw and Ma'a Nonu were prominent early in the first half and then in the second half Jerry Collins was penalised for scrapping.

David Holwell had the first chance to score but he was short with a penalty. The Crusaders had the first attacking moment when a Carter chip was taken on the full. Later they attacked on the blind from a scrum, but knocked on with six metres to go and then conceded a free kick at the subsequent scrum.

Weepu had been hurt when he tackled John Senio but he was good enough to open the scoring with a 43-metre penalty goal, when Ross Filipo was penalised for slowing down at a tackle. That made it 3-0 after 13 minutes.

Scott Hamilton, who had a strong match, countered down the left and then the ball went wide to Rico Gear on the far right. The Hurricanes conceded a free kick at a throw-in from touch five metres from their line. The Crusaders chose a scrum but a knock-on spoilt their attack.

Leon MacDonald countered well down the left, but the ball slipped from his grasp just when things were promising.

Dan Carter missed a longish penalty but then produced a perfect chip which Hamilton caught on the full.

Next the Crusaders did a lot of effective pick-'n-go with Mose Tuiali'i prominent on attack and Collins and Masoe prominent on defence, but the inevitable penalty came and Carter goaled the straightforward kick to level the scores after 30 minutes.

When John Schwalger was off-side Carter made it 6-3 to the Crusaders and that was the score when the mournful foghorn signalled the end of the half.

As in the first half, the Hurricanes were the first to score in the second half when they goaled a penalty against MacDonald for holding on. This time Holwell was the kicker. 6-6 after 43 minutes.

Not long afterwards Tana Umaga was penalised for obstruction at a high kick, and Carter made it 9-6 but when Masoe was penalised for going in at the side Jimmy Gopperth, on for Holwell, goaled to make it 9-all - an astonishing score in view of the Crusaders' dominance of territory and possession.

Carter kicked high towards the Hurricanes' posts but Mauger knocked on. From the scrum Rodney So'oialo tried to drive the ball up but knocked on. That gave the Crusaders a five-metre scrum but still the defence held as Shannon Paku and Umaga combined to bundle Gear into touch on the right. It seemed that a try would not come and when it did it seemed so simple.

The Crusaders won a line-out through master Jack. For once he kept the ball and for once the Crusaders mauled and did so at speed. Then John Senio broke away going left and was tackled. The tackle was unplayable and produced a scrum to the Crusaders some five metres from the Hurricanes' line on the Crusaders right but well in from touch.

They won the scrum and Senio gave immediately to Carter. Casey Laulala cut back onto Carter's inside and took the switched pass. He was running straight, got past sprawling Weepu and was over near the posts in Masoe's tackle. Carter converted.

You then had the feeling that that was the game.

Afterwards So'oialo said: "That little try really cost us in the end."

There were still 17 minutes to play. Carter kicked a penalty when So'oialo was penalised for a tackle that was late and armless and then, straight from the kick-off, Gopperth kicked a penalty for holding on with 11 minutes to play, which made the score 19-12, which was the final score.

In those last 11 minutes the Hurricanes had more ball and tried to run it more than they had done in all of the match up till then but, apart from a break by replacement Tamati Ellison, they did no damage to the Crusaders' defences.

Eventually the foghorn sounded and Corey Flynn helped the ball into touch to start the festivities in Christchurch.

They were soon dancing in the mist.

SCORERS:

For the Crusaders:
Try: Laulala
Con: Carter
Pens: Carter 4

For the Hurricanes:
Pens: Weepu, Holwell, Gopperth 2