Crusaders roll over Chiefs

The mighty Crusaders machine barely got out of third gear at Baypark last night - though it was still more than enough for the Chiefs, who perhaps should have nicked a couple of V8s from Hamilton.
The visitors won 34-16, keeping their noses in front of the chasing New Zealand pack in the Super 15, while the Chiefs sank further into the mire with a tough South African road trip ahead.
While things were balanced for most of the match in front of a bumper 16,500-strong crowd, fortunes swung the Crusaders way when they were able to bring three All Blacks off the bench early in the second spell.
Crusaders skipper Kieran Read admitted his troops couldn't seem to find their rhythm on a balmy Mount Maunganui evening.
"We'll definitely take the win but it was pretty scrappy out there," Read said. "Both teams nullified each other pretty effectively. We couldn't quite get our flow going but we got some good turnovers and that's where teams are most disorganised. If you can kill teams there, it definitely puts you on the back foot."
The Chiefs went into halftime at 17-13 down, after throwing more than their fair share of leather at the Crusaders.
For most of the first half, it resembled a Muhammed Ali-George Foreman classic - the Foreman-like Chiefs bludgeoned away, pounding clumsily at the body, while the few blows Ali's Crusaders chucked were effective.
The visitors scored two long-range tries, first when Robbie Fruean, Zac Guildford and Israel Dagg linked down the left flank to put Fruean away and the next a withering 50m intercept zesty wing Sean Maitland.
Maitland latched onto a stray Delany pass and outpaced his All Black Sitiveni Sivivatu.
A few seasons back, that would've been unheard of but Maitland is the fast-rising star - in every sense of the word - while Sivivatu's twilight grows long. In his 83rd match for the Chiefs, his mind was willing but those once-speedy legs were lacking.
As expected, the All Black Franks brothers in the Crusaders front row were at their awesome best, turning the visiting scrum into a shunting behemouth.
But a jinking try to Lelia Masaga kept the home side in touch, as well as two penalties and a conversion to Mike Delany, who knows the intricacies of Baypark better than anyone.
The Chiefs started the second spell with venom, with Richard Kahui hunting big hits, but the Crusaders made a triple change 10mins into the spell, bringing on All Blacks Wyatt Crockett, Richie McCaw and Andy Ellis.
It was a telling move, with Ellis scampering over soon after, following a Dagg jink and Guildford link.
A late try to replacement lock Luke Romano boosted the score even further, leaving the Chiefs with an agonising trip to South Africa on tomorrow morning.
"There are a couple of massive weeks ahead but we take a bit of heart from tonight and we played a lot better than we have in the last previous few weeks," returning captain Mils Muliaina said. "It's nice to be back out there in front of a great crowd in Mount Maunganui but unfortunately we couldn't get the win for them."
Crusaders 34 (Robbie Fruean, Sean Maitland, Andy Ellis, Luke Romano tries; Matt Berquist 4 con, 2 pen) Chiefs 16 (Lelia Masaga try; Mike Delany con, 3 pen). HT: 17-13.