(Reuters) -The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch on Saturday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition.
Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history got back to title-winning ways after missing the playoffs last season.
"We had a shocking year last year but we're back at the top," said flyhalf Reihana, who was named Player of the Match.
"Just so stoked to be a part of this team... lucky we've got some world-class players that we're able to rely on in those crunch moments."
The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to defeat in the final for the third straight year.
"I think it was a classic final, two good teams going at it, small margins," said Chiefs skipper Luke Jacobson.
"I felt like we had some really good attack when we got into their half. We put some good pressure on them but we just didn't play enough footy down there."
The contest between two New Zealand heavyweights was predicted to be an arm-wrestle and so it proved with big collisions, a ferocious battle at the breakdown and accurate tactical kicking.
Crusaders skipper David Havili was sent to the sin bin in the 11th minute for a high tackle on Emoni Narawa and the Chiefs cashed in when prop Dyer crashed over for a converted try.
The lead lasted until the 26th minute when All Black Taylor broke off maul on the 22 and raced down the touchline to open the scoring for the Crusaders.
Home flyhalf Reihana converted and kicked two penalties in six minutes around the half-hour mark to delight the sellout crowd and open up a 13-7 lead.
The Chiefs hit back just before the break when fullback Stevenson went over for a try in the corner but Damian McKenzie failed to nail the conversion from wide out and the Crusaders retained a 13-12 lead at halftime.
The physicality was unrelenting in the second half with McKenzie coming in for particular attention from the Crusaders and the slight flyhalf missed a long-range penalty which would have put the Chiefs ahead in the 55th minute.
The Chiefs then held up Christian Lio-Willie over the line to repel the Crusaders after 25 phases of attack to keep the match a one-point affair.
McKenzie was caught in possession and stripped of the ball under the posts in the 66th minute but the Crusaders again came away without points as scrumhalf Noah Hotham was penalised for offside.
A dominant scrum earned the Crusaders a penalty seven minutes from time and Reihana slotted home the kick to score the first points of the second half and give his team enough of a cushion to extend their perfect home playoff record to 32 matches.
The Crusaders have now won 13 full editions of Super Rugby, including three in the last four years, as well as two New Zealand-only versions played in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID pandemic.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Clare Fallon)
