The Crusaders have scored the first Power Try of World Series Rugby, pummelling the Western Force 44-8 in front of 14,259 fans at nib Stadium.
Crusaders halfback Mitchell Drummond dots down. Photo: Photosport
Scrumhalf Mitchell Drummond scored the seven-point try in the sixth minute on Friday night after the Crusaders launched a successful attack from within their defensive 22m.
No team was able to score a Power Try in the previous three WSR matches.
The Force fought valiantly against the defending Super Rugby champions and trailed by just eight points at halftime.
But they couldn't go the distance against a Crusaders side who still oozed talent despite missing their All Blacks stars.
The Force managed just one try for the night, while the Crusaders ran in six.
The Crusaders' squad boasted more than 700 games of Super Rugby experience and included former All Blacks Israel Dagg and Wyatt Crockett.
"It was a great fight. It was hotly contested and it was physical," Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said.
"We've played a lot of high-level rugby in the last six months, so we just thought maybe our fitness got us through.
"It was an awesome spectacle. The energy we got from the crowd (was big)."
The visitors started the better of the two sides, with a long-range attack finding its way to Drummond to touch down for the Power Try.
The Force hit back through Ian Prior in the 10th minute, with the try set up by a crash-and-bash run from debutant winger Masivesi Dakuwaqa.
Dakuwaqa, who won an Olympic gold medal for Fiji's Sevens side in 2016, is severely vision impaired in his left eye after a rubber-band mishap in primary school.
The 24-year-old put in an impressive display for the Force but the home side had to defend for long stretches.
"There's disappointment there," Force coach Tim Sampson said.
"We were probably pressured there to playing out of our systems but the way the game finished we showed a lot of grit and that's the character of this team.
"We never take a backwards step and that was evident in the last quarter of the game."
- AAP
