THE Canterbury Crusaders came back from a 31-6 deficit after 30 minutes on Sunday to beat South Africa’s Golden Cats 58-38 in a 12-try Super 12 slugfest. Both teams treated the packed Trafalgar Park, Nelson, crowd to entertaining rugby. The Cats scored four of their five tries within 30 minutes with center Conrad Stoltz, who scored two last week, crossing for three and front rower Danie Vermeulen rumbling in another from close range. The Crusaders looked good with ball in hand, and Golden Lions handling woes, particularly in the second half, and aimless kicking weakened their game.
Scorers:
CANTERBURY 58 (Norm Berryman 2, Greg Feek, Afato So’oalo, Reuben Thorne, Caleb Ralph, Leon MacDoanld tries; Andrew Mehrtens 3 penalty goals, 7 conversions)
GOLDEN CATS 38 (Conrad Stoltz 3, Danie Vermeulen, Johan Erasmus tries; Pieter O’Neill penalty goal, 4 conversions; Boeta Wessels conversion).