Crusaders v Chiefs: Five takeaways as Super Rugby’s most successful club saves the ‘sanctity’ of the tournament while ‘lucky losers’ rue Damian McKenzie’s misses
Crusaders winger Sevu Reece and an inset of Sevu Reece
Following a gripping Super Rugby Pacific final, which saw the Crusaders clinch a 16-12 victory over the Chiefs, here are our five takeaways.
Top line
The Crusaders‘ domination of Super Rugby continues as the men from Christchurch overcome the Chiefs for the third time in a final to lift the trophy for the 13th time.
The Chiefs scored two tries to the hosts’ one but will rue the missed shots at goal via the boot of the usually accurate Damian McKenzie.
After a prolonged period in Crusaders’ 22, the Chiefs finally found a gap in the wall as Luke Jacobson popped the ball close to the line to his tighthead prop George Dyer who crashed over to give the visitors a 7-0 lead with David Havili in the sin bin.
Rivez Reihana would have an opportunity to cut the deficit but his shot at goal was wide. That would be the fly-half’s only miss of the game as he nailed a tricky shot at goal after Codie Taylor cantered away down the touchline, catching the Chiefs’ unawares from a rolling maul.
Reihana added two penalties to give the Crusaders a 13-7 buffer heading into the final knockings of the first half. But it was the Chiefs who had the final saw of the first 40 as Shaun Stevenson dived over in the corner with three minutes left to play.
McKenzie’s missed conversion meant that the hosts would hold a slender one-point advantage at the break and, in the second half, they would not let that slip. A heroic Crusaders’ defence completely shut the Chiefs out with McKenzie’s 54th-minute penalty attempt straying wide.
To make a third successive Super Rugby final defeat even more heart-breaking, the fatal blow was delivered by an ex-Chiefs star, Reihana, who stepped up in the 72nd minute to seal the result with a clutch penalty kick for the now 13-time champions.
Sanctity of Super Rugby saved
A final that should have never happened. The Chiefs deserved their place in the final on the evidence of their semi-final but frankly, they should have never been in the final four to begin with.
Clayton McMillan’s charges finished on top of the table after the regular season but would lose their first ‘knockout’ to the Blues. That should have ended their season but the Chiefs were saved by the frankly absurd format for 2025 that will hopefully be binned next year; that is, of course the lucky loser concept.
Simply, it rewards failure. Sure the players, fans, and clubs knew about the concept at the start of the season but that does not make it any less ridiculous.
In the same breath, the Chiefs earned the right that if they lost to the Blues, they would get a second opportunity, which they earned through their performance throughout the season. It robbed the play-offs of a real sense of jeopardy and to make matters worse, they still had a home semi-final against the Brumbies last week.
Had the Chiefs finally ended their losing streak in the Grand Final, their title success in 2025 would have been accompanied by an asterisk. But in the end, the Crusaders’ machine marched and did what the Crusaders historically do, win finals, particularly in Christchurch.
Sevu Reece leads the charge
Super Rugby’s all-time top try scorer did not grab a try in the final but was incredibly influential in their success. It is unusual that a winger plays such a big role in a nitty-gritty match like this, but Sevu Reece absolutely did.
He set the tone with an early big hit on McKenzie and relentlessly chased the high bombs and did so incredibly well. He also saved the Crusaders’ bacon on several occasions by chasing threatening kicks through from the Chiefs and at times looked like an additional flanker on the park with the scavenging and clean-up work he did.
Fellow All Black Havili was similarly superb as the largely unheralded back not only captained the side to victory but led the tactic charge. He did spend 10 minutes in the sin bin which could have proved far more costly that it actually was but his brilliant kicking game kept the Chiefs firmly on the back foot.
Outside of his gaffe that earned him a yellow card, he was excellent defensively against the likes of Quinn Tupaea and Daniel Rona. He too worked tirelessly throughout the match and surely earned his place in the All Blacks’ squad again.
Chiefs lack the BMT in the final again
Three years. Three finals. Three defeats. It’s a torrid record for the Chiefs who have once again been denied by the Crusaders, as they were in 2023, after being outdone by the Blues last year.
The Chiefs were superb throughout the regular season but stumbled at the final hurdle yet again as they failed to rise to the challenge. They were well and truly up against this time around as they faced a Crusaders that simply just does not lose in Christchurch when it comes to the play-offs.
The men in red have an impeccable record in the knockout stages and now boast a 32-0 winning streak having never lost a play-off game in their home city since the Super Rugby competition began in 1996, including all eight Super Rugby finals played in Christchurch.
The Chiefs have now fallen victim to the Saders’ insane record at home for the second time and have lost all three finals they have featured in against the competition’s most successful team.
This year they were perhaps the best prepared they have ever been to end that unprecedented record but faltered at crucial times. Full-back Stevenson fumbled a rudimentary high bomb under no pressure which would lead to three Crusaders’ points not too long after.
McKenzie fired two of his shots at goal wide, leaving five points begging. They also lacked innovation once they entered the Crusaders’ 22 and relentlessly hammered at the door with carries in close and the hosts simply kept them at bay.
Crusaders’ revival
Eyebrows were raised last year when the Crusaders announced that Rob Penney would not be sacked after a team that won five successive titles failed to reach the Super Rugby play-offs in nine years, winning just four times.
However, he repaid the faith the board instilled in him and took the sleeping giants from a ninth-place finish back to reclaim the title of Super Rugby champions for the 13th time in 28 years.
It was a remarkable turnaround from the tournament’s most successful team who remain unbeaten in play-off games at home with a sensational 32-0 record.
It wasn’t anything radical from Penney who simply got the team back to playing the Crusaders’ way led with sharp tactics, highlighted by their aerial dominance and game management today, and powerful forward play with a fair sprinkle of attacking flair. As for the Chiefs, it’s another year as the bridesmaid.
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