Crusaders 38

Moana Pasifika 21

Richie Mo’unga eventually celebrated his century-notching occasion for the Crusaders. The story of Good Friday in Christchurch, though, was Moana Pasifika giving the defending champions an unforeseen scare.

Mo’unga carried his two children onto the field and was greeted by a haka from his former St Andrew’s College to mark becoming the Crusaders’ 24th centurion.

Yet after sparking the opening try with his trademark dancing feet, the All Blacks playmaker and the Crusaders found themselves on the back foot for the best part of 60 minutes.

Moana Pasifika, now winless through seven matches, delivered their best performance of the season to threaten to pull off one of the biggest upsets in Super Rugby history.

Ultimately that was not to be as their common theme of fading in the final quarter continued but Super Rugby’s new additions can at least take heart from this effort. Replicate this performance next week, in their inaugural home game in Apia, and Moana will target breaking their 2023 duck against the Reds.

With eye-catching midfielder Levi Aumua leading the charge by claiming two first half tries, Moana secured an unlikely 21-17 halftime lead.

For long periods the Crusaders were rattled by Moana’s physical commitment to the carry, collisions and breakdown. Defensively the Crusaders were also uncharacteristically feeble, missing 18 tackles in the first half.

While Moana had their chances their inability to score in the second half allowed the Crusaders to pull clear with three tries.

Despite the final margin this was another unconvincing display from the injury-hit Crusaders, who can now look forward to the timely bye and welcoming back the likes of Scott Barrett, Sam Whitelock, Will Jordan, Zach Gallagher, Cullen Grace and Ethan Blackadder.

The Crusaders reverted to exerting scrum pressure to turn the tide in the second half. A yellow card to Moana lock Mike Curry swung the momentum. Lock Dom Gardiner – following a Mo’unga cross-field kick and Macca Springer offload – and Dallas McLeod established a belated buffer, before Willi Heinz scored at the death.

Aumua stated his case for an All Blacks call-up with another damaging performance.

Aumua, in combination with power wing Timoci Tavatavanawai, proved too hard to handle for the Crusaders. That duo sparked several breakouts and brushed off countless defenders to hand Moana the halftime advantage.

After featuring in the All Blacks XV on their two-match northern tour last November, Aumua reinforced his compelling ball-running ability by claiming two tries in the space of five minutes.

Aumua’s second came from a simple scrum move but the way he effortlessly pushed off Crusaders wing Will Gualter and two more attempted tackles is sure to make the national selectors take note.

Tavatavanawai, from the right edge, was equally impressive with his work rate and strength coming to the fore throughout as he crossed for one try and helped spark two more.

The Crusaders weren’t helped by late disruption with the in-form Leicester Fainga’anuku, named to start at centre after scoring seven tries on the wing this season, withdrawing close to kickoff.

McLeod replaced Fainga’anuku, only for the Crusaders midfield to be hit again when Jack Goodhue’s wretched run of injuries continued as the former All Black departed 15 minutes into his comeback match following a head clash in an attempted tackle which injected David Havili off the bench.

Mo’unga laid on the first of Codie Taylor’s double with a brilliant skip and fend to beat two defenders and throw the try assist in the same movement.

While Taylor’s second try from a maul threatened to quell the visitors’ spirited onslaught, openside Corey Kellow’s yellow card for killing the ball after a Tavatavanawai breakout proved costly with Aumua scoring in his absence.

With ball in hand the Crusaders were often disjointed, as was the case last week in their clunky away win over the Reds, with passes regularly missing their mark and handling errors stunting progress.

While the Crusaders never found their rhythm, with the lineout struggling to function in the second half, they did enough to ensure Mo’unga can cherish his milestone evening.

Crusaders 38 (Codie Taylor 2, Dom Gardiner, Dallas McLeod, Willi Heinz tries; Richie Mo’unga 5 cons, pen)

Moana Pasifika 21 (Levi Aumua 2, Timoci Tavatavanawai tries; Lincoln McClutchie 3 cons)

HT: 17-21