AFP, Christchurch :
Defending champions Canterbury Crusaders charged into their 13th Super Rugby final with a comprehensive 30-12 victory over the Wellington Hurricanes in Christchurch on Saturday.
The platform was set by the All Blacks-laden pack who drove relentlessly into the Hurricanes, allowing fly-half Richie Mo’unga the time and space to dictate play.
In a match billed as the final before the final, with the conference format putting the top two teams from the regular season this year on the same side of the play-off draw, the Crusaders struck early and never fell behind.
The eight times champions enjoyed 54 per cent of possession, forcing the Hurricanes to make 134 tackles and miss 31 more.
Their ability to launch a long-range counter from turnover ball, and to score either side of half-time, proved crucial as they built a 18-7 led at half-time and immediately moved to 25-7 after the resumption.
Captain Sam Whitelock said the Crusaders fed off the direction given by Mo’unga and a passionate defence.
“Richie’s done it all year. He’s pretty quick over those first couple of steps and is hard to keep up with.
“And defence reveals what the team means to you and the boys worked hard for each other.”
Hurricanes skipper Brad Shields, playing his last game before heading off to England, said the turnover proved costly.
“You’ve got to build phases down the right end of the field and a couple of times we let them off the hook pretty easy and turned around and they scored pretty easy.”
