Nightmare just gets worse for Crusaders

By BEN JAYCOCK

Panic has set in for the Crusaders with the seven-time defending champions suffering their worst ever start to a season with a fourth consecutive defeat.

This time it was the Hurricanes who inflicted the misery as Clark Laidlaw's side maintained their unbeaten start with a first win in Christchurch in 14 years.

The Crusaders, having already lost to the Chiefs, Waratahs and Fijian Drua, went down 14-10.

This season's competition appears more competitive than ever, and head coach Rob Penney desperately needs a quick fix with tough fixtures to come against Kiwi rivals the Blues and the Chiefs.

Tyrel Lomax crashed over to put the visitors ahead early on before the Crusaders hit back after half-time with Cullen Grace getting over.

Riley Hohepa put the hosts in front with a penalty, but the visitors got their winner with two minutes to go as Du'Plessis Kirifi surged forward and offloaded to lock Justin Sangster to score.

The Crusaders were without regular captain Scott Barrett, who is out for four weeks with a broken finger, and standin skipper David Havili said: “We're trying really hard but it's just not sticking. We gave ourselves a chance tonight but we couldn't quite finish it off.”

Melbourne Rebels were good in parts and ‘terrible' in others according to fly-half Carter Gordon following their 53-26 home pummelling by Queensland Reds.

The visitors scored eight tries to move up to second through Serupepeli Uru (2), Matt Faessler, Liam Wright, Peni Ravai, Josh Flook (2) and Josh Nasser, while the hosts scored four courtesy of Andrew Kellaway, Glen Vaihu, Isaac Kailea and Tuaina Tualima. Gordon said: “It's pretty hard to get through it all right now, but we looked good in patches and terrible in others.We've got a lot to look at but we'll take what we can from it – there's a lot to build on.”

The Chiefs moved up to third as they rediscovered their attacking flair to hold off Fijian Drua 46-29. Inspired by fly-half Damian McKenzie, the Chiefs scored six tries to four, pulling away in the second half after leading 24-17 at the interval.

It was a disappointing result for the Drua, who were coming off an upset of the Crusaders in Lautoka and were competitive early on, crossing twice through centre Iosefo Masi in the first 22 minutes. Drua added late tries by Te Ahiwaru Cirikidaveta and Kemu Valetini but tries from Kaylum Boshier (2), Cortez Ratima, Daniel Rona, Etene Nanai-Seturo and Shaun Stevenson sealed a comfortable victory.

Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson said: “There were a few stages there where we got a bit too loose with ball in hand but it's awesome when we can get some of those plays to come off.”

 Winless Western Force slumped to a 22- 14 loss to Moana Pasifika. Force fly-half Ben Donaldson struggled off the tee with the Australians only able to score through Bayley Kuenzle and former Ealing Trailfinders back row Carlo Tizzano, while the Pacific Islanders touched down through Sama Malolo, Sekope Kepu and Kyren Taumoefolau.

Waratahs are losing touch with the frontrunners after falling 12-10 to their bogey side the Blues in Sydney. The Auckland-based Blues extended their longest-ever winning streak over any team in the competition to 10 matches as they consigned the Waratahs to their third defeat in four this campaign.

After enduring a heartbreaking 23-21 loss to the Highlanders at home last week, the Waratahs' frustrations continued in a clumsy showing at Allianz Stadium. Prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi barged over to give the Blues a 7-3 lead at the break but the equally-wasteful Blues, whose fly-half Stephen Perofeta endured a particularly difficult night, finally widened the margin to beyond a converted try with their second five-pointer, this time to full back Zarn Sullivan.

A try from a rolling maul to replacement hooker Jay Fonokalafi gave the Waratahs a late sniff but they had to settle for a bonus point.

Brumbies beat the Highlanders 27-21 for the third win of the season by an Australian side over a New Zealand opponent. Brumbies trailed 11-7 after a frenetic first half but took the lead with a try by wing Corey Toole, his fifth of the season.

Billy Harmon's try put the Highlanders ahead but the Brumbies rallied to retake the lead with a penalty from Noah Lolesio, then a match-winning try to Lachlan Lonergan.

Lolesio kicked five from five for 12 points as the Brumbies posted their first win in Dunedin 13 years while Sam Gilbert's injury time penalty gave the Highlanders a bonus point.