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Cape Town - The Crusaders finished off their topsy-turvey Super Rugby season with a brilliant 37-24 win against the Brumbies in Canberra.
The Crusaders said farewell to Daniel Carter and Richie McCaw in style despite an early shock from the Brumbies as David Pocock gave the hosts an early lead with a try from a rolling maul.
The Brumbies were unable to hold onto their lead for long as Nemani Nadolo proved to be unstoppable once again. The burly wing crossed the Brumbies line in the fifth minute to score for the fifth consecutive game.
Matt Todd then joined Nadolo with that record in the 28th minute, in the process becoming the competition's first forward to score a try in five consecutive matches.
The Crusaders led their hosts 21-10 at the break.
The second half proved to be as action-packed as the first with the Brumbies fighting back to within three points with two tries through Jarrad Butler and a penalty try in the 65th minute.
The boot of Dan Carter kept the Brumbies at bay and ensured a fitting send off for the All Black and Crusaders stalwart.
Richie McCaw was denied a try on his last game with referee Jaco Peyper awarding a penalty try instead of crediting the Crusaders legend with the try.
The Brumbies finish their campaign in 6th place and will face the Stormers in Cape Town next week if the Waratahs beat the Reds later on Saturday.
The Crusaders won four of their last five games but missed out on the playoffs for the first time since 2001.
Scorers:
Crusaders
Tries: 5' Nemani Nadolo, 28' Matt Todd, 37' Nemani Nadolo, 72' Penalty Try
Conversions: 73' Daniel Carter
Penalties: 11' Daniel Carter, 22' Daniel Carter, 42' Daniel Carter, 62' Daniel Carter, 79' Daniel Carter
Brumbies
Tries: 2' David Pocock, 48' Jarrad Butler, 65' Penalty Try
Conversions: 3' Christian Lealiifano, 49' Christian Lealiifano, 66' Christian Lealiifano
Penalties: 16' Christian Lealiifano
Teams:
Brumbies
15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Robbie Coleman, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Nic White, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Blake Enever, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 Scott Sio
Substitutes: 16 Josh Mann-Rea, 17 Allan Alaalatoa, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Jordan Smiler, 20 Jarrad Butler, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 James Dargaville
Crusaders
15 Tom Taylor, 14 Jone Macilai, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 David Havili, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Matt Todd, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Wyatt Crockett
Substitutes: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Alex Hodgman, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Jimmy Tupou, 20 Jordan Taufua, 21 Billy Guyton, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Nafi Tuitavake
