This article originally appeared on Stuff and is reproduced with permission
Buckle up for a tasty rematch of last year’s Super Rugby Pacific final on Friday night.
The reigning champion Crusaders made sure of that, after hammering the Fijian Drua 49-8 in Christchurch on Saturday night to book a home semi-final against the Blues.
They’ll carry fresh injury concerns into the match, too, after Ethan Blackadder lasted all but a few minutes, and lock Zach Gallagher and pivot Richie Mo’unga left the field and forced the Crusaders to play the last 10 minutes with 13 players.
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Regardless, it almost certainly will feel like more of a home game than their quarterfinal against the Drua did.
After all, helped by a plane load of Drua fans jetting into the Garden City, visiting fans drowned out Crusaders fans throughout the night and created a raucous atmosphere.
Heck, if you’d closed your eyes and been 25degC warmer, you might have thought you had teleported to Lautoka or Suva.
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It didn’t matter that the Crusaders roared to a 21-0 lead after 13 minutes, or that the hosts held a comfortable 35-8 lead early in the second half, the Drua fans weren’t about to sit on their hands as their team featured in their first sudden-death match.
They burst into chants, roared at even the hint of a break, and exploded in joy when halfback Frank Lomani slotted a penalty to put their team on the board in the 25th minute.
But it was never louder than when wing Selestino Ravutaumada picked off a poor Will Jordan pass and dashed 20 odd metres to score late in the first half.
It was exactly the type of mistake the Crusaders spoke about avoiding during the week, and had steered well clear of the first 32 minutes as they bossed the match.
Avoiding the chaotic and helter-skelter rugby the Drua love nothing more than, which they used topple the Crusaders and Hurricanes during the regular season, were the instructions.
As assistant coach James Marshall said they would on the eve of the game, the Crusaders forwards rolled up their sleeves and went to work with their set piece.
Hooker Codie Taylor scored twice from lineout drives to increase his career tally to 39, propelling himself above former wing George Bridge and into fourth on the all-time list of Crusaders’ try scorers.
Loosehead prop Tamaiti Williams got the wood over Mesake Doge as the hosts’ scrum made life miserable for the Drua, who simply had to live off scraps for much of the match.
The Crusaders’ forwards, along with blockbusting utility back Leicester Fainga’anuku, also churned out ample metres up the guts via their rumbling pick-and-go game.
In a sign of potential playoff nerves, the Drua also weren’t helped by failing to launch the kickoff even five metres, and also coming up short with a restart.
However, while the Crusaders at times threatened to repeat their 61-3 demolition job of the Drua in Christchurch last year, they weren’t able to finish off a bunch of chances outside the three second half tries they scored.
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