For three decades, the Crusaders have treated hostile territory like a second home.
They are ruthless on the road, in a competition where winning away in the finals is exceptionally rare.
Six-time Super Rugby champion, Crusaders centurion and halfback Bryn Hall told Aotearoa Rugby Pod, it’s a mindset cultivated over generations.
Hall says there was always that feeling, to take something from someone, from their house, and it was driven through the week from Scott Robertson a lot.
You could call it malevolent. They call it successful.
The franchise relishes the silencing partisan crowds. They thrive on proving the round robin means little. The playoffs decide who is boss.
Of their 13 Super Rugby titles, eight were won without finishing first on the table. They didn’t finish higher than third in their first three, winning them all on the road.
Time and again, they have boarded a plane, walked into someone else's stadium and ended their season.
Tomorrow night, Rob Penney's side heads to Hamilton to try it again.
While the Chiefs finished second on the ladder, one ahead of the Crusaders, the red and blacks won both regular season derbies.
If 2026 results aren’t enough to make locals nervous, painful memories of the 2023 final at FMG Stadium will.
The butterflies are vindicated by the numbers.
Not counting the divided Covid competitions, away teams have won just nine of 56 Super Rugby semifinals since 1996.
Six of those victories belong to the Crusaders.
Away teams have won only seven Super Rugby finals in the same period.
The Crusaders account for five of them.
They have carried the trophy through Christchurch Airport after breaking hearts in Auckland (1998), Dunedin (1999), Canberra (2000), Johannesburg (2017) and Hamilton.
The only other franchises to win a Super Rugby final away from home are the Bulls and Highlanders, with one victory each.
The Chiefs will host the Crusaders at 7.05pm tomorrow, while the Hurricanes will meet the Blues at 7.05pm Saturday.
Source: stuff.co.nz
