The Crusaders have finished off Super Round in Melbourne with a big 42-17 win over a plucky Rebels side.
The Rebels trailed 7-3 at the break after a dogged first half performance before the Crusaders reminded everyone why they are one of the best running sides. They piled on 35 points in dominant second half as Richie Mo’unga pulled the strings of a rampant backline.
They racked up a mammoth 769 running metres, over 500 more than the Rebels who tried valiantly until the end.
The Rebels started out of the blocks and pressured the Crusaders in defence. Matt To’omua had a chance to open the scoring but missed the penalty goal from a handy position.
The Rebels lost To’omua after failing a head injury assessment after 13 minutes that saw Carter Gordon come on and straight into the action in defence.
The Crusaders were trying to attack from everywhere but were let down by handling mistakes. They also had problems at scrum time with several penalties against them.
Eventually the dam broke and the Crusaders opened the scoring with a well worked try to Cullen Grace after 20 minutes.
The Rebels scrambling defence was keeping in the game with the Crusaders backline threatening to break free as they clocked up the run metres.
Neither side could get much attacking flow going as handling errors dominated proceedings. Reece Hodge had a long-range penalty attempt crash into the upright but made up for it on the stroke of half time.
Second half
The Crusaders were first to add more points with a brilliant team try. Leicester Fanga’nuku’s offload and handling from Pablo Matera and Richie Mo’unga were key before Ethan Blackadder scored.
The Crusaders gained confidence from that try and reset their gameplan before squeezing the Rebels with a mountain of possession. The Rebels missed tackle stat made from grim reading as the Crusaders found plenty of space.
The two Crusaders try scorers combined nicely in the left corner as Blackadder claimed his second try to put the Crusaders in bonus point territory.
The Crusaders strength was on display with two tries in as many minutes as the floodgates started to open.
A sneaky dart off the back of a ruck saw Bryn Hall score and that was followed by reserve prop Tamati Williams who rolled over in the left corner.
To their credit, the Rebels kept fighting and were rewarded with two late tries in the last ten minutes. Reece Hodge chased a Carter Gordon grubber kick for a well-deserved try.
Matt Philip added a late try from close range to put some respectability in the score but it was too little, too late.
Score
Crusaders 42
Tries: Blackadder 2, Grace, Hall, Williams, Fainga’anuku
Conversions: Mo’ounga 5, Burke
Rebels 17
Tries: Hodge, Philip
Conversions: Hodge
Penalties: Hodge
Cards
Nil
