Rugby: Perfect homecoming for Crusaders

The Crusaders shared a night to remember tonight, grinding out a 28-21 win over the Cheetahs infront of a capacity 17,500 strong-crowd at their freshly built home AMI Stadium. It was the first game hosted in Christchurch for 22 months - a stadium which remarkably only took 100 days to build - and symbolised what can happen when people work together. And that is exactly what the Crusaders did, the only problem being the Cheetahs didn't read the script. The Crusaders blew out to a ten point lead early in the second half, only for the Cheetahs to come storming back into the match, levelling the scores with eight minutes to play and setting up a grandstand finish set for a hero. And that hero proved to be Israel Dagg, touching down after a tense period of Crusaders pressure to give his side a seven point lead and a much needed win. Starved of Super Rugby since May 2010, the capacity crowd contributed to a combustible atmosphere and the Crusaders harnessed it to their advantage forcing them over the line for the win. Dan Carter played his part, introduced at halftime having now recovered from the groin injury that put him out of the Rugby World Cup. His presence gave the Crusaders attack a lot more impetus and drive going forward. Tom Taylor gave the Crusaders the lead from an early penalty, following a long period of possession. But the Cheetahs quickly replied with one of their own, Johan Goosen adding to his 88% season conversion success rate with a simple kick following a Crusaders offside error. The script said the Cheetahs should roll over and die, but they gave as good as they got, only to be let down by handling errors whenever they got in good positions. The huge Crusaders scrum was causing problems all night and of the seven first half penalties conceded by the Cheetahs, six came from the scrum. The Crusaders restored the lead after another series of intense pressure resulted in Taylor converting from a difficult angle. Sean Maitland had the honour of scoring the first ever try at the new stadium, finishing off a stunning Crusaders set move, impressively worked through the Crusaders backline. Carter came on at halftime for Ryan Crotty - who was one of the Crusaders standouts in the first half - and made an immediate impact, having a major hand in Robbie Fruean's try soon after the break. But the Cheetahs bounced straight back into it with the try of the night, a full end-to-end effort with power, pace and great support play resulting in Johan Goosen touching down. Goosen and Taylor then traded penalties leaving the game finely balanced at 21-11 with 20 minutes to play. A superbly worked team try brought the Cheetahs back into the game, once again, when Robert Eborsohn finished off yet another sweeping team move to bring the scores within two. Goosen converted to level the scores and setup a fascinating final few minutes. A sustained period of Canterbury pressure eventually saw Israel Dagg touch down in the corner and Taylor's conversion sealed the win. Crusaders 28 (R Fruean, S Maitland, I Dagg try; T. Taylor 2 con 3 pen), Cheetahs 21 (J. Goosen, R Ebersohn try; J. Goosen 3 pen 2 con). Munro 6 pen con), Halftime: 11-3.