The Crusaders are not perfect but always send blue in Super Rugby

The old warrior Jerome Kaino deserved better

Kaino and his Blues teammates were waiting for the armor drummer in Christchurch on Saturday night, but only those with a cold wind swirling in their rugby. Hearts would have wanted the ex-All Black to leave the AMI stadium without his dignity.

For the record, the Crusaders faced the 54-17 Blues in what turned out to be a memorable night for left wing George Bridge in three tries.

That does not really matter in the big scheme, because the result of this final match of the Super Rugby round robin was not relevant: the Crusaders had already locked up the minor prime minister and the day-to-day results will determine whether the Rebels or the Sharks are going to Garden City for the quarter-finals next weekend.

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For the old soldier Kaino c & # 39, was his last outing on New Zealand soil; he will leave soon for France to serve the last years of what was a great career for the All Blacks, Blues and Auckland. But he could not leave a winner. Not even close.

For 63 minutes, the Blues fought well. Visitors, who have not won in Christchurch since the night that Carlos Spencer celebrated a late try by giving the Lancaster Park crowd his infamous "salute" in 2004, were stubborn in defense, forced the Crusaders to make a bunch of unusual mistakes – nine in

The Crusader's view being forced to concede a penalty try of a scrum is rare – even their fronts seemed shocked – and Melani Nanai's wing put more pressure on the defending champions when he scored his second try. 19659002] It was after the Blues were forced to rearrange their back row early in the game because left wing Caleb Clarke retired with an injury, Bryn Gatland going to the first five eighth and Stephen Perofeta coming back to the back center. the 12,000 spectators watched the Crusaders winger, Seta Tamanivalu score at half-time, they retreated to the hot dog stand with jerky looks on their faces, telling themselves that it was ultimately their boys [19659002] If they thought the Blues were going to look at the dashboard – they were hanging out 19-5 at the break – and that they were surrendering, they might have done better to apply another layer of mustard to their treats to give Because the Blues fought for the next 20 minutes

Guess who was their best tackle? It's true that Kaino, himself at age 15, played the 80 minutes

The turna came in the 64th minute when Seta Tamanivalu was replaced in midfield after replacing Ryan Crotty at the start the second, opened the defensive line of the Blues and sent Bridge to his second try of the night

It was not a polite Crusader effort, which conceded 11 penalties and often prevented from sewing long Game sequences together due to mistakes

Codie Taylor, Owen Franks and Scott Barrett and Joe Moody were unavailable due to a knee injury. Coach Scott Robertson also replaced number 8 Kieran Read at half-time and withdrew Crotty from the back line

Crusaders 54 (George Bridge 3, Jack Goodhue 2, Tamanivalu Seta, Sam Whitelock and Richie Mo & # 39; Unga 4 con, Mitch Hunt 3 con) Blues 17 (Melani Nanai 2, penalty try). HT: 19-12

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