:The Canterbury Crusaders thumped Fijian Drua 49-8 in Christchurch on Saturday to set up a semi-final showdown against the Auckland Blues but the Super Rugby Pacific champions were left counting the cost of a huge injury toll.
The Crusaders became the third New Zealand side to reach the last four, after the Waikato Chiefs fended off the Queensland Reds 29-20 in Hamilton earlier on Saturday.Already decimated by injuries through the regular season, the Crusaders were down to 13 men in the last 10 minutes when flyhalf Richie Mo'unga limped off, joining lock Zach Gallagher, flanker Ethan Blackadder and others already ruled out.Fortunately, the home side had built up a 42-8 lead by that stage after running in six tries.Willi Heinz added a seventh five-pointer in the last minutes as the undermanned Crusaders refused to concede."Very pleased with how the boys played tonight," said Crusaders captain Scott Barrett. "To finish with 13 men...
we covered well."Beaten by the Crusaders in last year's championship final at Eden Park, the Blues thrashed the New South Wales Waratahs 41-12 in their home quarter-final on Friday.The Blues will now have to pull off Super Rugby's 'Mission Impossible' in the re-match in Christchurch, where the Crusaders have never lost a playoff.The Crusaders, hunting a seventh championship trophy in seven years to send off departing head coach Scott Robertson, stretched their winning streak in Christchurch to 28 playoffs against the Drua.Having upset the Crusaders in Fiji earlier in the season, the Drua turned up to Rugby League Park with hope of at least pushing the hosts.But they were soon reeling as the Crusaders racked up four converted tries in the opening 33 minutes.The Chiefs will return to Waikato