Chiefs clear way to finish top, but it's not all bad for Crusaders

1News

11-05-2025

Fresh from being steamrolled in the second half by the Hurricanes last weekend, the Chiefs did just that to the Crusaders in Christchurch last night to put themselves in pole position to qualify as top finishers of the Super Rugby Pacific regular season.
The Chiefs failed to score a point after the break in Wellington but in Christchurch, after conceding close-range tries to Tom Christie, Scott Barrett and Anthony Shalfoon to go to the halftime 19-10 down, the visitors went on a spree via Damien McKenzie, Leroy Carter and Wallace Sititi to run out 35-19 victors.
"We rolled up the sleeves and just went through the front. We were patient enough to wait for the opportunity," said Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan told media afterwards.
"I think there was Chiefs rugby at its best. There were lots of pleasing things today, but some still some work-ons. We didn't get everything perfect, when you play the Crusaders, you got to understand that that will be the case. We're not going to get everything your own way.
"The reality we just kind of got beaten up last week and that didn't sit well with anybody. We knew we had to stand up physically, both sides of the ball. That's something that the Chiefs pride themselves on.'
The Chiefs are now on a bye week, with matches against Moana Pasifika (home) and the Highlanders (away) rounding out their regular season. They will be strong favourites to win both handsomely, although an Ardie Savea-inspired Moana Pasifika could ask some difficult questions.
Should they follow the form guide and qualify top, they will likely face the Blues or Hurricanes in a quarter-final.
Knowing they failed to fire a shot in the second half will make this defeat for the Crusaders, who have now lost to the Chiefs both home and away this season, more difficult to swallow.
"It was a bit of a lesson, how we respond now will be critical," said Crusaders coach Rob Penney.
"How they were able to go through us particularly at the back end, they were pretty ruthless and we weren't able to counter it. We were just a little bit below where we needed to be…we were still making too many tackles. They're notorious for going hard after halftime - we expected it but weren't able to combat it."
However, for the Crusaders there may be a silver lining.
Should the top six – the Chiefs, Brumbies, Crusaders, Reds, Blues and Hurricanes - maintain their positions during the remaining three rounds, the red and blacks will host the Reds in the first knockout match.
They have already beaten them 43-19 in Christchurch this season and will be confident of doing again to progress to the semifinal which could represent a trip to Canberra to face the Brumbies, their final-round opposition.
Under this year's post-season format, the highest ranked losing team after the first round progresses to the next, albeit with the loss of hosting rights.
Assuming again that the top six maintain their positions, the first-round knockout matches would look like this: Chiefs v Hurricanes, Brumbies v Blues and Crusaders v Reds.
If the home sides won those matches the fourth-placed Reds would progress to the next round as 'lucky losers'.
That would create this semifinal format: Chiefs v Reds and Brumbies v Crusaders.
The key for the Crusaders, should they win both knockout matches, is that under this format they would avoid New Zealand-based opposition until the grand final in Hamilton – a repeat of the 2023 showdown which the Crusaders won.
It is a formula they would probably happily accept if offered it right now.