Crusaders late show seals draw against Sharks

A last-minute converted try from Mitch Hunt secured the Crusaders a hard-fought 21-21 draw against the Sharks in Christchurch on Friday. 

Although the Crusaders outscored their visitors by three tries to none, the Sharks were in the lead for most of the match and were on course to secure an unlikely victory until Hunt crossed the line and then added the extras which earned his team a share of the spoils.

In the end, the Crusaders fly-half finished with an 11-point haul as he also kicked three conversions, while his team’s other points came via efforts from Codie Taylor and Jack Goodhue.

Curwin Bosch contributed all the Sharks’ points courtesy of seven penalties. The result ends a 25-match winning run for the Crusaders in Christchurch.

The encounter started brightly for the visitors and, although Bosch struck an upright with his first shot at goal, he made up for that miss when he landed a penalty in the eighth minute to open the scoring.

The Crusaders did not take long to respond, though, and three minutes later Taylor crossed for their opening try from close quarters after Jordan Taufua and Braydon Ennor carried strongly in the build-up.

Hunt added the extras which gave the home side a 7-3 lead but, despite conceding that try, the Sharks did well to keep the champions at bay during the rest of the half and two further penalties from Bosch meant the Sharks had their tails up at the break with the score 9-7 in their favour.

The visitors were fastest out of the blocks in the second half and they held a 15-7 lead by the 50th minute after Bosch added two further penalties.

The Crusaders needed to respond and that came in the 56th minute when Goodhue crossed the whitewash after gathering a perfectly-weighted pass from Kieran Read deep inside Sharks territory.

Hunt’s conversion was successful which meant the visitors were holding a one-point lead but the Sharks struck back with another penalty from Bosch in the 69th minute.

Bosch lined up another three-point attempt in the 72nd minute but his long range effort was off target. He made up for that miss when he landed his seventh penalty two minutes later but it was not enough for the win as Hunt’s late heroics secured the draw for the hosts.

In the day’s other Super Rugby game, the Reds kept alive their play-off hopes courtesy of a 32-26 victory over the Sunwolves in Brisbane.

In a topsy-turvy match, in which the lead changed hands on seven occasions, and with both sides finishing with players off the field – after Semisi Masirewa and Harry Hockings were red carded and Yu Tamura and Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco received yellow cards in the game’s closing stages – the Reds finished stronger and held on to clinch the win.

For the home side, Bryce Hegarty led the way with a 17-point contribution thanks to a try, three conversions and two penalties while Taniela Tupou, Sefanaia Naivalu and Brandon Paenga-Amosa also scored five-pointers.

Gerhard van den Heever crossed for two five-pointers for the Sunwolves whose other points came via the boot of Hayden Parker courtesy of two conversions and four penalties.