Dan Carter kicked 19 points as the Crusaders cruised past a spirited Sharks side, to book their place in the Super Rugby semi-finals next weekend. The most successful side in the competitions history outscored their opponents three tries to one, in a mistake riddled match at Trafalgar Park.
It took the New Zealanders just 15 seconds to open the scoring, after a sloppy penalty at the first ruck allowed Dan Carter to slot his first three points of the night. The Sharks were making early errors and Carter had the chance to double the lead after seven minutes but his second shot at goal sailed wide. The South African side took a surprise lead after 10 minutes, a electric break from scrum-half Charl McLeod took him clear of the Canterbury defence, he offloaded to flanker Keegan Daniel who was brought down inches from the line. But giant number eight Willem Alberts crashed over from close range to give the Sharks a 5-3 lead.
The first 20 minutes were played a frantic pace, but poor handling meant that neither side was able to build phases or pressure. The Sharks were playing with immense physicality and were pressuring every ruck and trying to stop the Crusaders entering any kind of rhythm. The hosts then blew a golden chance for their first try after 30 minutes, Kerian Read and Matt Todd combined well to send Sonny Bill-Williams through the defence, he offloaded to Robbie Fruean who looked for Zac Guildford but the winger couldn't take the final pass.
But the Crusaders did cross the line just one minute later. The home side overpowered the Sharks in the scrum, the ball was moved down the line to Sean Maitland who stepped inside the defence and passed the Sonny Bill who crossed the line for the try. Carter then added the conversion to give the Crusaders a 10-5 lead.
The hosts were then awarded a dubious penalty, after Sonny Bill-Williams made the most of the minimal amount of contact to earn a blocking penalty for his side. Carter was again on target to extend the lead to 13-5. Patrick Lambie had a chance to cut the deficit before the break, but he pushed his penalty wide and the sides went into the break separated by eight points.
The Sharks got themselves a penalty straight from the kick-off and this time Lambie was on target to cut the gap to 13-8. Seven minutes later Carter restored the eight point cushion with another confident strike. Two minutes later the Crusaders crossed the line for the second try of the match, after a long kicking exchange full-back Lambie looked to spread the ball wide, but Keiran Read anticipated the pass and plucked it out of the air and strolled in under the posts. Carter added another two points to extend the home sides lead to 23-8.
The Crusaders were starting to assert their dominance, they were picking the holes in Sharks defence which was resolute but tiring. Carter landed his fourth penalty of the game after 56 minutes to further extend the lead to 26-8. As in the first half the Sharks were making too many mistakes to really trouble the Crusaders defence which was comfortable all night.
Carter added his fifth penalty after 73 minutes to put the game well beyond doubt, as the Crusaders opened up a 21 point gap. The men from Canterbury then added their third try of the game when Ben Franks crashed over, after a period of heavy pressure. Replacement Matt Berquist added the conversion to make the final score 36-8.
The Crusaders won comfortably and when were never really troubled by the Sharks who were plagued by handling errors. The hosts played with a lot of physicality, but they wont be happy with their sloppy handling and decision making. They now face a very difficult task next week as the travel to Cape Town to face the Stormers in what is shaping up to be a cracking encounter.
