The Crusaders won the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific final, defeating the Chiefs 16-12.
Rivez Reihana’s crucial penalties and tactical punting earned him the man of the match nod.
Ethan Blackadder and Tom Christie led a strong defensive effort, limiting the Chiefs’ attack.
Two teams desperate to win provided 80 minutes of almost scary intensity before the Crusaders’ 16-12 victory over the Chiefs in Saturday night’s final made them the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific champions.
On what, with the winter solstice, was literally the longest night of the year, time movedalmost agonisingly slowly for fans of both sides, so close was the contest.
But ultimately, the Crusaders had the edge up front, where Fletcher Newell was a scrumming machine at prop, and at the back, where fullback Will Jordan was at his fearless, hugely gifted best.
The Chiefs are a team full of courage and ability. But these Crusaders showed so much resilience and determination that it was impossible for the Chiefs to make the second-half breakthrough they desperately needed to take the title.
No one secret
The revival of the Crusaders after the horrors of last year can be traced back to many areas. The most prosaic is the fact that heading into this year’s final, their injury list was short, whereas in 2024 (when they failed to make the playoffs) it was lengthy and packed with the names of key players.
But there’s something more involved in the staggering success of the team from Christchurch over four decades. The All Blacks under Sir Graham Henry and Sir Steve Hansen adopted the mantra “better men make better All Blacks”. In the Crusaders, their captain and then coach Todd Blackadder once told me the same idea was expressed in just two words: “No dickheads.”
Current coach Rob Penney, a man of patent sincerity, has joined with a coaching group and senior players like Scott Barrett and David Havili to produce a squad where unity is at the heart of everything they do.
Contrary to what someone who has never lived there might think, Christchurch can be a very tough place for a coach. It’s small enough for six degrees of separation to sometimes feel more like one or two. I doubt very much that any Blues coach has ever seen a critical notice about himself in his local butcher’s window as Sir Wayne Smith once did.
Last season would have been tough for Penney. There are times, and this year would certainly have been one, when powerful alliances, leading to trust and belief, were essential for success.
As icy cool as the weather
Great goalkickers, from 1987 World Cup hero Grant Fox to Dan Carter, have an uncanny knack of being able to clear their minds of all pressure as they line up a kick. Crusaders’ first five-eighths Rivez Reihana did just that when it came to crucial, successful penalty attempts in the 29th, 35th and 73rd minutes. His expertise off the tee was matched by his tactical punting. In a crowded field, Reihana was the official man of the match. It would have been a remarkably one-eyed Canterbury optimist who would have predicted at the start of the season that in the final, Reihana would outscore and outplay the brilliant Damian McKenzie. But that’s what happened.
It was also another big night for Crusaders halfback Noah Hotham. The former Hamilton Boys’ High School star edged the Chiefs’ talented Cortez Ratima. With Cam Roigard playing like a champion for the Hurricanes, the position at All Blacks level feels well supplied.
Crusaders coach Rob Penney celebrates their latest title. Photo / Photosport
Defence wins the day
Defence is a shared responsibility in the Crusaders but it would be wrong to not single out loose forwards Ethan Blackadder, and the unsung hero of unsung heroes, Tom Christie, in particular for special praise. Christie plays himself almost to a standstill in every game and Blackadder is one of those players who seems to be constructed of nothing but hard, sharp edges. It was a great measure of how effective the Crusaders’ tackling was that the brilliant Chiefs No 8 Wallace Sititi, who carved up international defences for the All Blacks last year, was hardly sighted running with the ball on Saturday night.
A neon-sign effort
Staking a claim for an All Blacks spot when your team are losing is one of the toughest asks in the game. So it was a deeply impressive display by Chiefs second five-eighths, Quinn Tupaea, as he fulfilled all the duties his position demanded and added a remarkable bonus at kickoffs, where his aerial work was a constant issue for the Crusaders. It’s been a big season for Tupaea and his selection chances at national level will have been boosted by playing his best game of the year in the most crucial match.
The brotherhood
Front-rowers form a sweaty, exclusive club that definitely excludes referees. In Tamaiti Williams, Codie Taylor, Fletcher Newell and George Bower, the Crusaders are fortunate enough to have four men of international quality spearheading their scrum. I have never spoken to a top-level front-rower who believes that referees really understand what’s happening in a scrum. It must therefore have been disconcerting for the Crusaders when Sydney referee Angus Gardner began the final calling penalties against tighthead Newell. Not a giant like Williams, Newell squats 275kg, which means he’s not famous for being wobbly at scrum time.
Things eventually settled and Newell played the game of his life, from making a try-saving tackle with Codie Taylor, to winning the scrum penalty with seven minutes to play that Reihana slotted to extend the Crusaders’ lead to four points, a title-winning 16-12. Hopefully the knee injury Newell carried into the final will heal quickly enough for him to be involved when the Rugby Championship starts in August.
The banning of cowbells from the stadium for the final was, on the one hand, basically ridiculous. As a school kid from Waihī, I first stood on the bank at Rugby Park in Hamilton in the 1960s surrounded by clanging bells. And in all the years since, I have never heard of any injury caused by a cowbell-wielding fan. But the cowbell controversy kept the final on national television news right through to kickoff. As an attention-grabber, the bells ban was brilliant.
