Clinical Crusaders thrash Blues to reach another Super Rugby final

In a fast-paced and entertaining encounter, the home side delivered a clinical performance in which they outscored their opponents by six tries to two, with Leicester Fainga'anuku leading the way with a brace.

Braydon Ennor, Will Jordan, Codie Taylor and Fergus Burke crossed for their other five-pointers, while Richie Mo'unga finished with a 22-point haul after succeeding with five conversions and four penalties.

For the Blues, Beauden Barrett and Caleb Clarke scored tries, and Barrett also added a penalty and a conversion.

The result is a momentous one for the Crusaders as it means they have now won 30 straight knockout games at home since making their first home play-off appearance in 1998.

The Crusaders were fastest out of the blocks and opened the scoring as early as the third minute when Ennor gathered a skip pass from Mo'unga inside the Blues' 22 and glided through a gap in his opponent's defence before crossing for the opening try.

Hoskins Sotutu was then blown up for ruck infringement, and Mo'unga slotted his first penalty before Fainga'anuku extended the home side's lead when he scored his first try, after Jordan did well to draw in a couple of defenders before offloading to his wing, who had an easy run-in for his try.

Mou'nga failed with the conversion attempt, but a penalty from the All Black followed, which meant the home side held a comfortable lead by the 20th minute.

The Blues needed a response, but they battled to get into the game as they were met by a solid defensive effort from their hosts. They eventually opened their account via a Barrett penalty in the 25th minute.

That was as good as it got for the visitors in the first period as the Crusaders continued to dominate as the half progressed, and in the 35th minute, Jordan went over for their third try, after running on to a short pass from Ennor deep inside the visitors' 22.

Just before half-time, the Blues were reduced to 14 men when Sotutu was yellow-carded when he entered a Crusaders' maul from the side.

From the resulting penalty, the hosts launched another lineout drive inside the Blues' 22 and were rewarded when Taylor crossed for his converted try, which gave the hosts a 32-3 lead at the interval.

The second half started in a similar fashion to the first, with the Crusaders in a rampant mood, and they were rewarded in the 49th minute when Fainga'anuku went over for their fifth five-pointer.

This, after he gathered a pass from Sione Havili-Talitui at the back of a lineout on the Crusaders' 10-metre line and beat several defenders on a barnstorming run before crossing the whitewash.

To their credit, the Blues did not surrender, and 10 minutes later they were rewarded when Barrett crossed for their first after good work from Rieko Ioane in the build-up.

They continued to make mistakes, however, and Mo'unga slotted his fourth penalty in the 66th minute before replacement back Burke crossed for their sixth try shortly afterwards.

Mo'unga added the conversion and penalty, which brought up a half-century of points for his team. With the game in the bag, the Crusaders took their foot off the pedal, and the Blues crossed for a late try, but it was too little too late as the defending champions advanced to another Super Rugby Pacific final.