Crusaders secure home semi

The Crusaders booked themselves a home semi-final with a closely contested 18-10 win over a brave Sharks outfit at a chilly AMI Stadium on Friday.

The Crusaders, 11 points clear of the Sharks on the table, were tipped to get the better of their shaky opponents but were rescued at the death by a try to replacement prop Wyatt Crockett to spare some blushes.

The Crusaders started the brighter, but a forward pass by Sean Maitland to Leon MacDonald ruled out a certain try following a neat cross-kick by Stephen Brett.

However, Brett was on hand once again to punish the Sharks for intercepting a ball from an offside position with the simplest of penalties to open up the scoring in the fifth minute.

The Crusaders were patient in their build-up, working their opponents from left to right in a bid to find a hole in the black-and-white wall of defence.

The visitors were starved of possession and territory for the most part of the first half, and failed to make any significant impact when they did get their mitts on the ball.

A chance to draw level in the 14th minute went a-begging after Ruan Pienaar failed to land a straight 35-metre shot at goal.

Four minutes later and the Crusaders were celebrating their first try after what seemed like a strong defensive effort by the visitors until veteran prop Greg Somerville bustled his way over from close range.

The TMO confirmed that the try was legitimate and Brett added the extras to give the hosts a handy 10-point lead.

Once the Sharks had finally made it into the Crusaders' 22 - it took them a good 25 minutes to do so - Rory Kockott took over goal-kicking duties from Pienaar, but wasn't any better after missing yet another sitter.

But another opportunity opened up for the Sharks following a silly mistake from Brett after the re-start set up a scrum for the South Africans just outside the Crusaders' 22.

In-form Sharks No.8 Ryan Kankowski picked up from the base of the scrum, held off four would-be tacklers to score.

Kockott was more successful with his conversion and the Sharks were back in the game.

Australian prop Ben Franks was the Crusader who paid the price for the try with coach Robbie Deans deciding Wyatt Crockett would do a better job with five minutes of the half remaining.

Deans was left to rue his decision after Crockett spilled the ball with the try-line at his mercy after a good build-up by the forwards, but another successful penalty by Brett at least helped extend the home side's lead.

But, at 13-7 in front, the Crusaders were left in a spot of bother when McCaw was shown a yellow card after tackling wing Odwa Ndungane from an off-side position under the new laws.

The resulting penalty from Kockott saw the Sharks enter the break just three points behind.

It was a cautious start by both sides in the second half - neither side wanting to make a mistake with the slippery ball and opting for the boot on more than one occasion.

At one stage the ball was kicked back and forth ten times - five apiece - until Brett's thump into touch finally ended the game of aerial ping-pong.

What the Sharks failed to do however was take more advantage of McCaw's absence, not managing to put any points past 14 players.

They did however take the game to their hosts a lot better in the second half than they did in the first - and the under-pressure Crusaders were left doing most of the tackling.

The Sharks had fluffed two try-scoring opportunities thanks to dropped passes by Albert van den Berg and Craig Burden respectively; Kockott didn't help his team's cause either by missing a chance to level the scores with another penalty kick in the 58th minute.

Even after 14 phases, the Sharks failed to get over the Crusaders whitewash.

The Crusaders hit back in typical fashion though and had Crockett to thank for a try that not only made up for his earlier blunder but ultimately sealed the hosts' victory.

With the rain flooding the pitch, Pienaar was unable to control a grubber kick ahead, Crockett kicked on further.

And Stefan Terblanche when was unable to control either, Crockett kicked again and once more until he flopped his body on the loose ball.

The TMO was called in once again to make a tight call and wasted little time in awarded the replacement forward the match-winning try five minutes from full-time.

Brett was unable to make the conversion, but the Crusaders were in a safe eight-point lead and denied the Sharks a crucial losing bonus-point which may come back to haunt the men from Durban.