Crusaders down Blues as Chiefs, Brumbies set Super Rugby pace

SYDNEY : The Canterbury Crusaders made a statement with a dramatic 34-28 win over the Auckland Blues at Eden Park but it was the Waikato Chiefs and ACT Brumbies who continued to make the running in round four of Super Rugby Pacific.

The often slow-starting Crusaders had lost two of their first three matches of the season, including a stunning upset at the hands of Fijian Drua last week, but hit their considerable stride in Saturday's re-match of last year's final.

Leicester Fainga'anuku scored a hat-trick of tries for the reigning champions but it was a ferocious defensive effort led by lock Sam Whitelock that proved the difference in a thriller played in front of a crowd of 24,000.

The Blues were twice held up over the line late in the game and Whitelock capped a superb performance with a turnover to deny the home team another shot at a try to win the game.

"It was a game for us to make a statement," said left winger Fainga'anuku, who played with a rib injury.

"We lost to the Chiefs and the Drua loss was a cop to the chin of a few of the fellows. It was a game to really show our DNA, to show what Crusaders footy is all about."

The Chiefs kept their 100 per cent record with a 44-25 win over the Melbourne Rebels in Hamilton in Saturday's early game with in-form fullback Shaun Stevenson scoring two of the home side's six tries and setting up another.

Another bonus point kept them two points clear at the top of the standings ahead of the Brumbies, who also made it four wins out of four with a 62-36 victory over Moana Pasifika in Canberra.

The winless Moana gave as good as they got for the first hour of the contest but the high-octane Brumbies backline exploded with four tries in the last quarter to blow out the score.

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