Carter leads the Crusade
Crusaders ace Dan Carter closed in on 1,000 points in Super Rugby following the Crusaders' 26-19 victory over the Chiefs.
Last Updated: 14/03/10 10:13am
Dan Carter has moved to second in the list of all-time points scorer in Super Rugby after his 16-point haul in the Crusaders' 26-19 victory over the Chiefs on Friday.
Carter was successive with six shots at goal from eight attempts to move above All Blacks legend Andrew Mehrtens - with the former Crusader having scored 990 points during his career.
Carter is now just nine points shy of Stirling Mortlock's record of 1,005.
Carter's rival for the All Blacks No.10 jersey, Stephen Donald also enjoyed a successful day with the boot.
Donald landed five out of his six attempts for 14 points, but it wasn't enough to save the Chiefs from back-to-back defeats - although the home side weren't helped by the loss of Liam Messam with a hip injury.
The Crusaders had the edge in a frenetic first half, reaching the break 23-16 in front - with scrum-half Kahn Fotuali'I scoring twice for the Canterbury franchise.
Tactical
New Zealand centre Richard Kahui kept the Chiefs in touch when he scored following good work by No.8 Colin Burke and Donald, however the home side failed to breakthrough in the second half.
The Crusaders pack were on top after the break as the tactical kicking of Carter pinned the Chiefs back.
And although Donald and Carter swapped penalties there was no further scoring in the second period.
"It's never easy up here," Crusaders captain Richie McCaw said.
"It felt like there was a fair bit of running involved and I'm proud of the way we stuck at it."
Having won their opening three games of the season on the road, the Chiefs have now lost back-to-back games at home.
