Chiefs 16
Minute 50, jersey 19 - the rugby world was set right upon its axis.
All Blacks captain Richie McCaw's return to Super 15 might have been reasonably low-key, but this match between New Zealand teams of opposing fortunes was anything but.
In a willing, frantic, at times sloppy and every
now and then brutal contest, the Crusaders held their nerve to consign the Chiefs to their sixth loss of the season. They were even gifted a bonus point by a ludicrous decision from referee Craig Joubert after McCaw nudged the ball forward before Luke Romano scored.
Corey Flynn and Liam Messam might face the judiciary after an ugly second-half coming together of the Maori teammates. Crusaders' hooker Flynn appeared to lash out with his boot and caught the prone No 8 in the face. Messam retaliated with a couple of well-aimed right crosses.
Tanerau Latimer will also have a story to tell about this game, when he remembers, after a melon clash with Owen Franks.
The home side might be a distant fourth to the Crusaders in the New Zealand conference, but they committed to every ruck like it was their last and did something no side has been able to since round one and rattled Todd Blackadder's side.
The scoreline did not reflect it, but the Chiefs made big steps forward.
What they couldn't afford to do, however, was let in the sort of soft tries that the Crusaders scored in the first 40 minutes.
The first try was made and finished by Robbie Fruean. Forget talk of his form dipping. He took a poor pass, held the ball out in front like a five-eighths and sucked in two defenders before creating an overlap for Zac Guildford. Trailing on the inside, he took a final pass to beat the cover.
If that was slick, the Chiefs' reply was super-slippery. Strong counter-rucking gave them possession in midfield and slick hands set Lelia Masaga free and a couple of chops off his right foot later he was over.
Maitland rounded out the first-half try-scoring when he pounced on an awful Mike Delany pass and beat the cover, but that was no signal for the Chiefs to roll over.
If anything, the home side finished the first half stronger and might have been fortunate to be gifted three points in the final seconds of the half after a dominant Crusaders scrum conceded a penalty for a dubious technical infringement, but the points were deserved.
They led in key statistics, including territory and possession, and against any other team they probably would have been leading on the scoreboard.
But the only statistic that really counts went the Crusaders' way, and no matter the amount of perspiration and grunt from the Chiefs in the second 40, that wasn't going to change. However Richie Kahui gave it a shot with thunderous defence.
They couldn't cross the line though, and the Crusaders with their fresh legs did, twice - even if the second one was a sad way for the match to come to an end.
