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Getting the boot Canterbury edges ACT, wins third Super 12 title
Posted: Saturday May 27, 2000 12:47 PM
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Canterbury won its third consecutive Super 12 rugby union championship Saturday, edging the ACT Brumbies 20-19 behind the boot of All Black Andrew Mehrtens. Both sides crossed for one try, but Merhtens proved the difference. With just three minutes left and the Brumbies two points in front, the New Zealand No. 10 was on target with a 41-meter penalty attempt that ended the Brumbies' hopes before a capacity crowd of 27,489 at Bruce Stadium. The Brumbies were attempting to become the first Australian team to win the Super 12 title. ACT kicker Stirling Mortlock missed four of his nine attempts at goal. The Crusaders showed too much aggression for the ACT, bustling the Brumbies into repeated infringements. With snow drifting over Bruce Stadium and the temperature plunging, the home favorites were unable to find a way through the tight Canterbury defense around the ruck. The Crusaders, in contrast, showed composure and purpose, and turned on a strong display of mistake-free rugby to dominate possession. The Brumbies looked increasingly rattled as time ticked away, with Mortlock blowing two early penalty attempts and hooker Jeremy Paul off target with a lineout throw just as the ACT pressured the Crusaders line midway through the opening period. The hard-pressed Brumbies only won a reprieve when referee Andre Watson sent Crusaders prop Greg Somerville to cool his heels in the sin-bin with 10 minutes left in the half. Wallaby five-eighth Stephen Larkham began to open up gaps and, with five minutes left, Mortlock finally put points on the board with a penalty from in front to take the score to 12-3. The Brumbies opened the second half more positively, peppering the Crusaders with a succession of attacks out wide, which at one stage saw No.8 Jim Williams, held up over the Crusaders line. But Mortlock's woes with the boot continued, clawing back only three points from a further four attempts. The Crusaders made no such mistakes and when No. 8 Jim Cribb charged through a soft Paul tackle and chipped ahead to re-gather, the visitors grabbed their first try of the match after 52 minutes. With the match looking beyond the home team, it was left to dynamic 19-year-old replacement flanker George Smith to bring them back into contention. From a lineout close to the Crusaders line, Smith charged straight through five defenders to cross beside the posts and set up the conversion for Mortlock. With only minutes left, the ACT briefly hit the lead at 19-17 when Mortlock was on target with a close-range penalty. But then Mehrtens sealed the matter with his late penalty.
Scores:CANTERBURY 20 (Ron Cribb try; Andrew Mehrtens 5 penalties) def. ACT BRUMBIES 19 (George Smith try; Stirling Mortlock conversion, 4 penalties). Attendance: 27,489.
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