Richie Mo'unga has put on a masterclass to help the Crusaders make it 10 wins out of 10 for New Zealand teams in the first two rounds of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
Richie Mo'unga Photo: Photosport
The All Blacks first five-eighth scored a hat-trick of tries and kicked eight conversions as the Super Rugby Aotearoa champions were emphatic 63-28 winners over Super Rugby AU champions Reds in Brisbane on Saturday.
The Crusaders scored nine tries in front of a crowd of 20,000, with Sevu Reece grabbing a brace and Cullen Grace, Codie Taylor, Tamaiti Williams and a penalty try further inflating the scoreline and earning them a record win over the Reds.
The Reds scored tries through Tate McDermott, Harry Wilson, Suliasi Vunivalu and Brandon Paenga-Amosa but their hopes of reproducing their victory over the Crusaders in the 2011 Super Rugby final were extinguished in the first half an hour.
Four unanswered tries gave the visitors an imposing 26-0 lead after 29 minutes and Mo'unga had a hand in three of them, scoring two and making another for Reece with a brilliant line-break.
Half-back McDermott finally got the Reds on the board from a quickly-taken penalty just before halftime but Reece got his second off a David Havili crosskick and Mo'unga danced through the Reds defence again before the hour mark.
"He just knows how to control the game and when there's nothing on, he just makes something happen," Crusaders captain Taylor said of Mo'unga.
"He's a pretty special guy on and off the field and I'm just glad that he's on my team and I don't have to defend against him."
- Reuters