The Crusaders saw off an intense challenge from the Blues in a furious final quarter to complete a 26-15 victory in their Super Rugby Aotearoa clash in Christchurch on Saturday.
The home side have now won all four of their Super Rugby Aotearoa matches and ended the Blues’ seven-game winning streak across both Super Rugby and the local competition.
The Crusaders seemed to be sparked into a furious response when centre Braydon Ennor charged down an attempted conversion by Otere Black of a controversial Rieko Ioane try.
Ioane crossed in the 55th minute when his side took a quick tap penalty following an attacking scrum that appeared to have been wrongly awarded by referee Paul Williams.
Richie Mo’unga then took a quick restart and gathered the ball which resulted in the Crusaders storming back, with scrumhalf Mitchell Drummond crossing to give the home side a 16-15 lead, their first of the game, and they didn’t look back.