The Crusaders survived a second-half Brumbies siege, winning 8-21 at GIO Stadium, Canberra.
The eight-times Super Rugby champions extended their winning streak over the Brumbies to eight.
The Crusaders scored three converted tries after Henry Speight’s second-minute score to lead by 13 points at the break.
Tim Bateman’s try levelled the scores before Manasa Mataele grabbed a brace after replacing Israel Dagg, who left the field because of a concussion.
The Brumbies dominated the second-half with territory and possession yet could not score.
Despite playing with a two-man advantage after Scott Barrett and Ryan Crotty were yellow carded, within three minutes of each other, they could not cross the whitewash.
The Kiwis survived a 15-minute siege inside their 22 to make it 12 wins on the bounce against Australian opposition.
Aussie teams have now lost 36 straight games against New Zealand’s franchises, winning three of the last 57.
Brumbies start well but that is all.
The home team came out of the blocks, scoring in the second minute.
Just after the kick-off, Speight raced over after a superb pass from Joe Powell.
The Crusaders came surging back.
Codie Taylor knocking on close to the try-line.
The visitors did not have to wait long for their first score.
Seta Tamanivalu broke the first line of defenders and gave a no-look pass to Bateman, whose momentum carried him over the whitewash.
Chance Peni was in the bin soon after for a high tackle on Dagg, which ruled the winger out for the rest of the match.
Enter Mataele.
The hosts were struggling with their scrum, conceding a few penalties which put them under pressure. They could not get out of their 22.
The second try followed when Mataele ran over Powell in a one-on-one for his first.
The Crusaders had enjoyed 75 percent possession for long spells in the half.
The Brumbies could not get their hands on the ball.
Matt Todd ghosted through the Brumbies defenders, in the 31st-minute, and sent a long pass to Mataele, who stepped inside three cover defenders to collect another brace.
Mike Delany added his third conversion to push the score to 5-21.
On the one occasion that the Brumbies did attack inside the Crusaders 22, they won a penalty.
Wharenui Hawera reduced the deficit but that would be the last points of the match.
Second-half siege.
Whatever was said to the Brumbies in the change-room, it worked.
They survived an early scare before spending most of the game inside the ‘Saders’ half; mostly in their 22.
A driving maul was halted and Tevita Kuridrani went close, but no luck with breaking the Crusaders’ resistance.
The Brumbies were winning penalties after almost every phase.
Referee Jaco Peyper was starting to lose his patience.
He called Sam Whitelock over to tell the captain to cut-out the repeated infringements in the red-zone.
From the very next play, Barrett was sent to the sin-bin.
He was followed soon after by Crotty, who was miles offside during a Brumbies scrum.
With the two-man advantage, one would have thought the Australians would have been smarter with their tactics.
Instead of taking another scrum and using the numbers out wide, they opted for a lineout.
It was a disaster because they had fewer numbers in the lineout than the visitors.
The game-management was a factor in the Brumbies coming away with nothing, despite wave after wave of attacks.
They had 92 percent possession inside the Crusaders 22 for a quarter of an hour and came away empty-handed.
The Crusaders, on the other hand, kept their heads. They were tactically astute, slowing the game down at the set-pieces.
There was still time for the away team to squander a couple of half-chances while in search of the bonus-point, however, just like the second-half, it came to nought.
Brumbies versus Crusaders video highlights.
Final score: Brumbies 8 (8) Crusaders 21 (21)
Scorers
Brumbies
Tries – Speight
Pen – Hawera
Con –
Drop –
Cards – Peni (Yellow, 20′)
Crusaders
Tries – Bateman, Mataele (2)
Pen –
Con – Delany (3)
Drop –
Cards – Barrett (Yellow, 59′), Crotty (Yellow, 62′)
Match Officials
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant Ref 1: Will Houston
Assistant Ref 2: Jordan way
TMO: George Ayoub
Teams
Brumbies
15 Tom Banks, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Andrew Smith, 11 Chance Peni, 10 Wharenui Hawera, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Isi Naisarani, 7 Tom Cusack, 6 Blake Enever, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Abel, 17 Faalelei Sione, 18 Ben Alexander, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Lolo Fakaosilea, 21 Matt Lucas, 22 Jordan Jackson-Hope, 23 Andy Muirhead.
Crusaders
15 David Havili, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Tim Bateman, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Seta Tamanivalu, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Jordan Taufua, 7 Matt Todd, 6 Heiden Bedwell-Curtis, 5 Samuel Whitelock (captain), 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tim Perry.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Makalio, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Michael Alaalatoa, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 Mitchell Hunt, 23 Manasa Mataele.