Crusaders coach celebrates winning the Super Rugby title with midfield dance battle

They had a one-player advantage for half the match but the Lions' desperation to win their first title took its toll on the newly-crowned champion Crusaders team, with coach Scott Robertson admitting they were "shattered" in the final quarter.

Converted tries from Malcolm Marx and Corne Fourie with 15 minutes remaining narrowed the Crusaders' previously healthy margin to 25-17 and opened the door for one of the most incredible comebacks in Super Rugby finals history, but Robertson's men, exhausted by their recent travel and playing at 1700m above sea level, stayed strong.

"We tried to hold the ball but they were good even with 14 men," Robertson said after flanker Kwagga Smith was shown a red card for his dangerous tackle on David Havili two minutes before halftime. "Our boys were shattered with 20 to go. We needed 12 on the bench. We knew in the last 20 minutes the Lions have won the majority of their games here over a number of years. When it got down to eight points and they had all the momentum and all the hype... we were just scrambling."

The Crusaders' victory, the first time a team has won a championship after crossing the Indian Ocean, and the franchise's eighth title in total, provided a fairytale finish for Robertson in his first year as head coach.

• This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.