Matera became the champion in New Zealand

MatteraA key part of the team throughout the season and continued to be praised by coach Scott Robertson, he played 78 minutes and was replaced by Quinton Strange.

With a mix of nerves and anxiety, in a development that has seen both sides handling errors, The Crusaders won and played a lot on the field Reaching the first points with a Try by Hall and a penalty, a drop and Mo’nga’s conversion.

The Crusaders prevailed due to their greater speed and strength, and the specialties of the line prevailed in fixed formations.

A Monga Jail 10 minutes into the second half, it was 16-0, but the Blues were able to salvage a try in the 19th minute when Christie pounced on a loose ball to score a try, giving the cheering Eden Park crowd confidence.

The Blues began to press, fueled by stoppage time, but time began to become an issue as scrum restarts ate up valuable minutes. They trailed 16-7 heading into the final 10 minutes and needed a big reaction to pull off an unlikely victory.

Finally, Rees took advantage of Matera’s remarkable kick and scored a try and gave the end and title to the Crusaders.

Captain of the Crusaders and historic second row of the All Blacks, Same whitelogAt the end of the match it was pointed out: ” Sometimes it’s not just about scoring points, it’s about stopping them from scoring, and tonight’s effort was outstanding.“.

Blues, coached by Leon Macdonald, developed with Stephen Perofetta; Mark Delia, Rico Ione, Roger Duasa Sheck and AJ Lam; Beauton Barrett and Finlay Christie; Hoskins Sodudu, Adrian Sode and Akira Ione; Tom Robinson and Josh Goodhue; Nebo Laulala, Kurt Eklund and Alex Hodgman

As Coach Robertson arranged, the Crusaders did just that George Bower, Cody Taylor and Oliver Jagger; Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock; Matera, Tom Christie and Cullen Grace; Brian Hall and Richie Monga; Leicester Fainga’anuku, David Havili and Jack Goodhue and Sevu Reece; Will Jordan.

The Crusaders finished with a 14-3 performance, with Madera starting 12 of those 17 games, starting two as a substitute and not playing three.

SR’s highest winning streak is Crusaders with 11 titles (In 2019 they won the final against Los Jaguares 19 to 3, Matera consolidated the Argentine team), followed by the Blues and Bulls with three each.

Cover photo: AFP