Reuben rules the roost

Casey Laulala scores a try during the Super 14 final. Ross Land / Getty Images

Crusaders 19 Hurricanes 12

The Crusaders notched up their sixth Super rugby title last night and their second on the trot after a match that arrived at the ridiculous without passing sublime.

A thick fog descended on Christchurch yesterday, wrapped its chilly fingers around Jade Stadium and stubbornly refused to let go.

The result was an absolute shambles of a game of rugby; a most ill-fitting an unsatisfying finale to a season in which the Super 12 reinvented itself as 14.

Rico Gear was the first of many to look silly, dropping what would have been a routine catch in less surreal conditions. He wasn't the last.

Piri Weepu then took a sickening knock on the head that owed nothing to mist - although he would have been feeling a bit foggy - and everything to poor tackling technique as he tried to pull down opposite number Kevin Senio.

The feisty halfback looked out for the count as his anxious team-mates rolled him into the recovery position.

He pulled off a miraculous recovery of sorts by getting off the canvas and kicking a long-range penalty in the 13th minute to get the scoring under way.

Daniel Carter had an opportunity to level the scores five minutes later but the general consensus was that he missed. Put it this way, the touchies didn't raise their flags.

Meanwhile the Hurricanes kept dropping like flies. Neemia Tialata spent time on the deck being nursed, there was Weepu again and again, and Chris Masoe joined the casualties with what appeared to be a knee injury.

It was while Masoe was being administered to that Carter tied the scores up with a close-range penalty.

It followed a sustained spell of Crusaders pressure after they, no surprises here, adapted to the conditions quicker than the Hurricanes - Reuben Thorne, in particular, seemed to be revelling in it.

He was harshly criticised while All Black captain as being 'invisible' on the pitch. This time he had a genuine excuse, yet chose to have one of his more prominent performances.

The Crusaders pack was happy to churn out ball which Carter would hoist high into the mist and into Hurricanes territory.

On this night, fielding any sort of kick was like taking a ticket in the lottery, but this was something the Hurricanes took too long to cotton on to.

With halftime approaching, Carter kicked another penalty to give the locals the lead. For all their dominance - at halftime the Crusaders had a ridiculous 82 per cent territorial advantage and 63 per cent possession - the home side went into the break just three points ahead.

With coach Colin Cooper no doubt barking in their ears during the break, the Hurricanes came out kicking. This time the Crusaders made the error of not returning the favour and within a couple of minutes David Holwell had drawn the visitors level.

An inevitable Carter up-and-under led to another penalty and the Crusaders were soon three points up again.

The Hurricanes ruined a great platform for attack after Richie McCaw spilled a kick deep in his half. Jerry Collins then demonstrated the antipathy the Hurricanes have developed for the All Black captain.

The touch judge intervened in what looked a precious piece of officiating - particularly when Thorne got away with a similar act of puffery on Jason Eaton within a minute - and the Hurricanes were forced back into familiar territory, defending deep in their own half.

In years gone by such acts of indiscipline and perceived injustice were enough to send the Hurricanes into fits of despair.

But Cooper's outfit is a tougher bunch than previous incarnations. Willing themselves forward they emulated their feat of last week's semifinal by having Weepu, Holwell and substitute Jimmy Gopperth all on the scoresheet.

But there was always a sense they were clinging on to a vain hope. That feeling became reality when Casey Laulala burst through some unusually fragile midfield defence to score handy to the posts.

Another Carter penalty pushed the lead out to 10 and you'd have got big odds on the Hurricanes coming back from that, even after Gopperth nailed his second penalty to bring them back to a converted-try deficit.

The Hurricanes tried to use the ball through the hands but were always doing it from deep.

Tamati Ellison made one searing break but the Crusaders don't lose the close ones.

So it proved once more. They tackled, they turned over ball and they pumped it back with interest and watched keenly as the Hurricanes launched another futile sortie.

Crusaders 19 (C. Laulala try; D. Carter 4 pens, con).
Hurricanes 12 (P. Weepu, D. Holwell, J. Gopperth 2 pens).
HT: 6-3.