Crusaders edge Waratahs 23-22 in Super Rugby
All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter had given the Crusaders their first lead of the match.
CHRISTCHURCH (AP) - The New South Wales Waratahs' chances of reaching Super Rugby's playoffs died meekly on Friday when replacement flyhalf Berrick Barnes missed a last-minute penalty, giving the Crusaders a 23-22 win which kept their fragile playoffs hopes alive.
Barnes had the chance to save the match and possibly the season for the Waratahs when he lined up the final kick from less than 30 meters and near the left-hand touch. But his hurried kick sliced across the face of the posts as the final whistle sounded and the Christchurch-based Crusaders held on to a win which may have locked in a top six place for another week.
All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter had given the Crusaders their first lead of the match, at 23-22, with a penalty in the 73rd minute, capping their rally from 22-10 down immediately after halftime.
How the Crusaders managed to win the match in which they trailed for all but the last seven minutes was something even they struggled to explain.
Brilliant first-half tries to wingers Cam Crawford and Peter Betham gave the Waratahs a 15-10 lead at halftime and a third try, to flyhalf Bernard Foley four minutes into the second half, made the lead 22-10 and put the visitors well on top.
The Waratahs had beaten the Crusaders only four times in 19 previous meetings and only once before on their home ground at Christchurch. Barnes was quoted in the leadup to the match as saying he would value a win over the Crusaders in Christchurch as highly as any of the successes of his test career.
He had it in his power to award that victory to his side but his misdirected late penalty saw the chance snatched away. The Waratahs entered the match in eighth place on the championship ladder, with seven wins and seven losses, and as that record tilted into negative territory, their playoffs bid subsided.
The Crusaders kept theirs alive but only just. They produced another of the sub-standard performances which have resulted in recent losses to the Chiefs and the Western Force and remain 10 points behind the Hamilton-based Chiefs in the New Zealand conference.
Their second-half rally to grab the lead was more surreptitious than spectacular. They closed the gap significantly with a contentious try to flanker Matt Todd in the 61st minute then stuttered into the lead with a conversion and two penalties to Carter.
Carter, who finished with 13 points, hasn't been the Crusaders preferred goalkicker in recent matches, handing that responsibility to Tom Taylor. He took back the kicking role on Friday, probably to prepare himself for the All Blacks' test series against France which starts next weekend.
The Waratahs forced a long series of scrums close to the Crusaders line in the last five minutes and finally succeeded in winning a penalty from a collapse. Their spirits briefly rose, then sank when Barnes was unable to find the posts.
"We came here with the right attitude but we were obviously one kick short," Waratahs captain Dave Dennis said.
The tide of the match may have changed when Waratahs coach Michael Cheika subbed both his halves in the 57th minute, replacing scrumhalf Brendan McKibbin, who had kicked two conversions and a penalty, and Foley, who had scored a try. The Crusaders almost immediately began to gain more field position.
"It was get out of jail alright," Crusaders captain George Whitelock said. "We struggled all night and perhaps in that last 20 minutes we ground our way back into it. We were lucky to get away with the win."
