Super Rugby: Crusaders race away from Cheetahs late in game
The Crusaders produced a big finish to claim a 52-31 victory over the Cheetahs in their Super Rugby clash.
Last Updated: 12/04/14 7:54pm
The visitors scored four of their six tries in the last 17 minutes, wing Nemani Nadolo completing a hat-trick to give the contest a lopsided scoreline.
It did not look so comfortable for the Crusaders when they trailed by five points with 63 minutes gone but they proved the stronger of the two teams in the closing stages.
The result means the Crusaders end their tour of South Africa with two wins out of two and are now within range of the play-off places.
Crusaders fly-half Colin Slade opened the scoring with a penalty but the Cheetahs responded with a converted try as Johann Sadie set up Cornal Hendricks in the 18th minute.
Slade reduced the gap with another penalty before the visitors took the lead when All Blacks full-back Israel Dagg raced onto a chip into the corner and Slade added the conversion.
Slade kicked two more penalties before half-time, with Elgar Watts adding three points for the Cheetahs to leave the score 19-10 in the away side's favour.
Nadolo went over for his first try in the opening minute of the second half, the score being created by a neat offload from New Zealand star Kieran Read.
However, the home side fought back to retake the lead as Sarel Pretorius, Teboho Mohoje and Willie le Roux all ran in tries in the space of nine minutes. Watts converted all three to give the Cheetahs a 31-26 lead.
The hosts did not score again and fell back behind when Tom Taylor ran in a converted try before Nedolo grabbed two further scores and Slade also crossed the line.
