Crusaders snatch Super Rugby Pacific victory in thriller to deny Chiefs

Codie Taylor crossed twice as he became the competition's leading forward try-scorer, with Richie Mo'unga claiming his team's other try on the night.

Shaun Stevenson and Emoni Narawa scored the Chiefs˜ tries, which Damian McKenzie converted as well as adding two penalties in a narrow defeat.

It was an agonising loss for the hosts as the regular season table-toppers were edged by a champion team, with Scott Robertson signing off in style.

The early stages were dominated by the Crusaders as they showed their finals experience, pinning the Chiefs in their own half for a sustained period.

Robertson's men were subsequently on the board first as, after turning down an early shot to go to the corner, they later went for goal for a 3-0 lead.

Then came the moment of controversy in the final as Anton Lienert-Brown was issued a yellow card for head-on-head contact with Crusaders wing Dallas McLeod. Referee Ben O'Keeffe put the tackle on an off-field review, but it was deemed the contact did not warrant an upgrade to red, leaving many viewers perplexed.

Prior to that call, the penalty offences were racking up against the Chiefs, who were pinged six times to the Crusaders zero by the 13-minute mark.

Despite their offences, it was the Chiefs who scored next thanks to a McKenzie penalty, as Lienert-Brown returned with no scoreline damage done.

Things would get even better for the hosts on 23 minutes when Alex Nankivell's pass sent Stevenson through a gap, and he went over to make it 10-3.

However, penalties continued to go against the Chiefs, and O'Keeffe dipped in his pocket again due to Luke Jacobson not supporting his body weight.

This time the card proved costly for the Chiefs as Taylor barged over from the back of a maul, but crucially Mo'unga missed the subsequent extras.

McKenzie was also off-target just after the half-hour as his penalty from near to the touchline was wayward, meaning the lead remained at 10-8.

The lead did change hands on 36 minutes when Will Jordan and Leicester Fainga'anuku linked up before Mo'unga dummied and scored to make it 15-10.

Half-time appeared to benefit the Chiefs most as Stevenson and Narawa clicked on 43 minutes as the wing raced over for a converted try for 17-10.

McKenzie's two would be backed up by a penalty six minutes later as the Chiefs gave themselves a five-point gap in the Super Rugby Pacific final.

Then came a turning point in the match as Narawa's disallowed try, due to McKenzie straying offside from a line-out, gave the Crusaders a chance.

They promptly kicked the penalty to the corner, and after a 15-minute spell of pressure in the 22, which saw Sam Cane carded, Taylor crashed over.

The Crusaders now had their noses in front with just six minutes remaining at FMG Stadium, but there was one final chance for the Chiefs close to full-time, with fly-half McKenzie lining up a speculative long-range attempt that fell short of the uprights.

Mo'unga made no such mistake in much better field position in the final kick of the game as the Crusaders retained the title as their dynasty continues.