Caleb Ralph scored two of Canterbury’s six tries on Saturday as the Crusaders claimed a 41-19 win over the Auckland Blues in a Super 12 rugby match.
Five of those tries, including a penalty try, came in the first half at Eden Park as the Crusaders preyed on their traditional rival’s turnovers to lead 34-0.
Ralph scored his second try in the third minute of the second half, giving Canterbury a 41-0 lead. But their effort ebbed from that point and the Blues scored 19 unanswered points in the next 37 minutes.
The match was riddled with ill-tempered incidents, the worst of which saw Auckland and All Blacks lock Ali Williams sent off eight minutes from full-time for stomping on the head of Canterbury captain Richie McCaw.
Canterbury took advantage of the Blues’ frequent turnovers and their lack of concentration to run in tries from all parts of the field.
”Everything we tried to do seemed to turn to gold in the first half,” said McCaw.
”We held all our passes and when that happens you get on a roll. We’ve been on the receiving end of that before, and I can tell you it’s nice to be dishing it out.”
McCaw, who was involved in a first-half fist fight with his Auckland opposite Xavier Rush, admitted there was tension in the match, but said the resulting incidents of foul play were minor.
”There’s always a wee bit of tension there,” he said. ”Hopefully we can sit down together and have a beer now.”
Rush also played down the confrontations between the teams.
”In the heat of the moment things happen,” he said. ”There were a few incidents out there tonight. Obviously it’s a Blues-Crusaders thing.”
Daniel Carter converted four tries and kicked a penalty for Canterbury.
”It got away from us,” Rush said.
”We turned over the ball too often. They’ve scored 75% of their tries this season from turnover ball.” — Sapa-AP