No love lost as Crusaders overcome Chiefs in breathless Hamilton thriller

There was plenty of feeling in Hamilton on Saturday night as Super Rugby Pacific’s 2025 finalists squared off.

There were scuffles, other-worldly tries, heroic defensive plays and plenty of exhausted bodies by the full-time whistle, which arrived with the Crusaders clinging to a 43-33 lead.

The game first broke open when Daniel Rona broke the Crusaders’ line in the fourth minute and delivered a superb, 15-meter pass to Leroy Carter, who was cut down by Chay Fihaki and fell over the sideline.

The ensuing lineout on the five-meter line was overthrown and collected by Samisoni Taukei’aho. Five phases later, a Quinn Tupaea pick-and-go on the line saw the Chiefs score the first points of the game.

Three minutes later, the Chiefs were defending their own line when an Emoni Narawa breakdown steal ignited a 100-meter counterattack.

Leroy Carter retrieved a bouncing pass behind the Chiefs’ line, broke two tackles and offloaded. Josh Jacomb found Xavier Roe, who got rid of it immediately against the run of play to Quinn Tupaea, with an offload to Josh Lord seeing the lock shrug one tackle in a 10-meter contribution before one final offload found the pace of Etene Nanai-Seturo.

The hookers then exchanged tries, with George Bell breaking a one-on-one tackle 10 meters from the Chiefs’ line to score and Samisoni Taukei’aho finding a route through traffic after a Xavier Roe half-break.

A clean Will Jordan break off a set-play saw Noah Hotham finish a 60-meter run to make the score 21-14, and then the Crusaders drew level through a strong Christian Lio-Willie carry from close-range. The latter try was set up by the Crusaders’ wingers dominating the high-kick contests and Will Jordan being well-placed to exploit the broken-field opportunities that came.

A statement at scrum time from the Crusaders was followed by a scuffle off the ball to finish the half, with the Chiefs penalised for both allowing Taha Kemara to pick up three points, giving his team a 24-21 lead at the break.

The visitors started the second half with more venom, and while the Chiefs were largely up to the challenge and resisted two close calls, the hosts eventually conceded another try in the 51st minute.

The game continued at a ferocious pace, demanding quick decision-making on both sides of the ball. Play was kept in the Chiefs’ half for the majority of the third quarter.

22m Entries

Avg. Points Scored

2.2

15

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Avg. Points Scored

4.4

9

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The Chiefs threatened to strike back, but a loose offload from Luke Jacobson was hacked downfield, and the Crusaders were back on the attack swiftly. Another Will Jordan break was complemented by a huge pass to David Havili on the wing, who touched down to make the score 36-21.

The Chiefs’ next big opportunity was ended by George Bower, who stripped the ball in a tackle. George Bell then left the field injured.

Chay Fihaki collected his own chip-kick from the ensuing scrum, getting the Crusaders to within 10 meters of the Chiefs’ try line. Christian Lio-Willie powered over once more to finish the play.

The hosts were throwing everything into it to get back within reach on the scoreboard, and Noah Hotham was handed a yellow card for impeding Emoni Narawa as the winger chased his own grubber close to the Crusaders’ try line.

Quinn Tupaea soon beat a tackle in midfield to set Tupou Vaa’i loose, with Luke Jacobson collecting the pass only to return the ball to Vaa’i for a much-needed Chiefs try.

Emoni Narawa added five more points in a desperate final five minutes, but the Chiefs were stopped short of a bonus point when Will Jordan chased down Leroy Carter, who had made a break down the edge. Final score 43-33, Crusaders.