Defending champion Crusaders miss Super Rugby Pacific playoffs as Hurricanes go top
LAUTOKA, Fiji (AP) — The seven-time defending champion Crusaders have been the big losers in the last, hectic scramble for playoff places in Super Rugby Pacific, missing out on the quarterfinals for the first time in a decade.
The Christchurch-based Crusaders won their last regular-season match 43-10 against Moana Pasifika on Friday to move inside the top-eight playoff zone for the first time this season.
But they were shuffled back to ninth place when the Fijian Drua took a bonus point from a 40-19 win over the Melbourne Rebels in Lautoka on Saturday. The Drua moved up to seventh, reaching the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year, and the Rebels held on to eighth to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in their 14-year history.
But there was a somber note to the achievement after Rugby Australia announced on Thursday that it will not renew the Rebels’ license to play in Super Rugby next season because of financial instability.