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July 21 (Reuters) – Dan Carter booted 23 points as the
Canterbury Crusaders reached the Super Rugby semi-finals with a
28-13 victory over the Bulls at Rugby League Park on Saturday.
The Bulls outscored the home side by two tries to one but
Carter kept the scoreboard ticking over, punishing the South
Africans for conceding a string of penalties in Christchurch.
Zac Guildford scored the Crusaders’ only try midway through
the first half and the Bulls had left themselves with too much
to do by the time Dewald Potgieter and Wynand Olivier touched
down in the last 18 minutes.
Last year’s runners-up head into next weekend’s semi-finals
bidding to keep alive their chances of adding to their record
seven titles.
The Bulls set out to disrupt the Crusaders from the start
but sloppy errors handed the home side some easy early shots at
goal for a lead the New Zealanders never looked like
relinquishing.
“”Especially in that first 40 minutes, we played at the
right end of the field and we didn’t give them any momentum,”
Crusaders captain Richie McCaw told Fox Sports.
““I thought we limited our mistakes and discipline was good
because they applied pressure.”
Carter kicked his side into a 6-0 lead before setting up
Guildford for his try, drawing in two defenders on the 22 before
slipping a short pass that sent his teammate through the gap.
Continued…
