Two second half tries to young midfield duo Ryan Crotty and Robert Fruean gave the Crusaders a 33-20 victory over the Blues in round four of the Rebel Sport Super 14 in Christchurch on Saturday night. 

With the Blues trailing by just a point at half time, an intercept try to Ryan Crotty midway through the second half proved to be the crucial turning point as the Crusaders showed their true class to prevail in a bitterly hard-fought match.

Ahead 26-15, promising centre Robert Fruean then consolidated the Crusaders’ lead with 13 minutes to go as he produced a brilliant run, smashing over the top of Stephen Brett from a set piece move to dive over and seal a clinical victory for the Red and Blacks.

But the Blues did manage a consolation try five minutes from time through dogged halfback Alby Mathewson who wrestled his way out of a tackle and through a ruck to run away and score a remarkable five pointer.

Blues captain Keven Mealamu said while his team did some positive things throughout the game, a couple of mistakes proved to be extremely costly.

“We hammered away well for that first 50 minutes but just a couple of mistakes resulted in points against us so that’s something we definitely need to improve on,” Mealamu told Sky Sports.

“We can’t expect to come down here to AMI Stadium to play against the Crusaders and make that many mistakes and still expect to win,” he said.

The two traditional rivals were inseparable in the first half as uncompromising defence denied either team any attacking opportunities in a game of Test match intensity.

Former Crusader Stephen Brett made his first return to AMI Stadium since signing with the Blues this year, and while the cheers he once heard reverberating around the stadium turned to jeers, it did little to fluster the 24-year-old who slotted four penalties and a drop goal in a composed performance by the Cantabrian.

But while Brett made the decision to move north and join the Blues to escape the shadow of Dan Carter, he once again found himself unable to avoid it as piece of Carter magic resulted in the only try of the first half.

With nothing appearing to be on, the classy first five-eighths stepped inside the Blues defence and offloaded to fullback Jared Payne who burst onto the ball and sent George Whitelock racing over the whitewash to score.

The Crusaders almost stretched their lead minutes later when a deft chip over the top from halfback Andy Ellis was collected by winger Zac Guildford 10 metres from the line, but a solid hit from Joe Rokocoko nullified the threat.

Both Carter and Brett traded penalties as the Blues went into the sheds 15-16 down at the break, but the decisive blow came 16 minutes into the second half as 21-year-old Crotty intercepted a speculative pass from winger Rudi Wulf to score the game turning try.

From there the Crusaders took complete control, with Dan Carter and returning captain Richie McCaw playing leading roles in the Crusaders’ third victory in a row this season.

The Blues now have a week off before facing the Brumbies at Eden Park on March 19.

Blues 20 (Alby Mathewson try; Stephen Brett 4 pen, drop goal) Crusaders 33 (George Whitelock, Ryan Crotty, Robbie Fruean tries; Daniel Carter 4 pen, 3 con) HT: 16-15.