The Crusaders secured their fifth successive win of the season as they beat the Force 45-17 in Christchurch on Friday. CRAIG LEWIS reports.
In the end, it was a case of mission accomplished for the Crusaders as they banked five log points and moved back to the top of the New Zealand conference.
However, the seven-time champs were far from their best as they scrapped their way to an important result, but one that boasts a rather deceiving scoreline.
The Crusaders outscored the Force four tries to two in the first half, and showed a clear desire to keep the ball in hand as much as possible. Although this worked to an extent, and enabled the hosts to rack up 28 points within the opening half an hour, they were also guilty of gifting opportunities to the Force.
First, Force winger Alex Newsome scored an intercept try when he pounced on a loose pass, while just before the break, Chance Peni barged his way over to reduce the deficit to 28-17 at the break.
On the balance of play, the Crusaders would have felt that they deserved more than an 11-point lead, but their discipline did let them down either side of half-time as they conceded a string of penalties.
Throughout the clash, the scrums were also a complete mess, and repeated infringements at this set-piece eventually resulted in a yellow card for Crusaders replacement prop Tim Perry right before the hour mark.
Nevertheless, the Force failed to record any points in his absence, and with Codie Taylor having scored a solitary try in the third quarter, the Crusaders hung on to a 16-point buffer heading into the latter stages of the clash.
The Force had to play the final 10 minutes with a man down when Isi Naisarani was sent to the sin bin, and in his absence Crusaders fullback David Havili and replacement hooker Ben Funnell went over to score two more tries.
Crusaders – Tries: Digby Ioane, Matt Todd, Scott Barrett, Luke Romano, Codie Taylor, David Havili, Ben Funnell. Conversions: Mitchell Hunt (4), Marty McKenzie.
Force – Tries: Alex Newsome, Chance Peni. Conversions: Jono Lance (2). Penalty: Lance.
Crusaders – 15 David Havili, 14 Digby Ioane, 13 Tim Bateman, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 George Bridge, 10 Mitchell Hunt, 9 Mitchell Drummond, 8 Jordan Taufua, 7 Matt Todd, 6 Scott Barrett, 5 Sam Whitelock (c), 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Subs: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Mike Alaalatoa, 19 Mitchell Dunshea, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Bryn Hall, 22 Marty McKenzie, 23 Manasa Mataele.
Force – 15 Luke Morahan, 14 Alex Newsome, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Marcel Brache, 11 Chance Peni, 10 Jono Lance (c), 9 Ryan Louwrens, 8 Richard Hardwick, 7 Kane Koteka, 6 Isi Naisarani, 5 Matt Philip, 4 Ross Haylett-Petty, 3 Jermaine Ainsley, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Ben Daley.
Subs: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Pek Cowan, 18 Tetera Faulkner, 19 Richie Arnold, 20 Matt Hodgson, 21 Michael Ruru, 22 Ian Prior, 23 Robbie Coleman.
Photo: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images
