The Canterbury Crusaders completed a hat-trick of Super 12 rugby titles and sank the ACT Brumbies' hopes of becoming the first Australian champions with a tense 20-19 victory in the final at Bruce Stadium on Saturday night.
Both sides scored a try, but it was the goalkicking of All Black outhalf Andrew Mehrtens which proved the difference.
With three minutes left and the resurgent Brumbies two points clear, Mehrtens slotted a 40-metre penalty to clinch the final.
"It was just a huge effort and our guys just had to soak up a massive amount of pressure," said Crusaders coach Robbie Deans. But it was a stark contrast in the Brumbies' camp. "We're devastated, we're absolutely devastated," said coach Eddie Jones.
"We gave it our best shot in the last 40 minutes. We played some good rugby, but we just didn't get enough points on the board in the end."
The Crusaders showed too much aggression for the ACT, bustling the Brumbies and allowing Canterbury to snuff out the backline Wallaby trio of George Gregan, Stephen Larkham and Joe Roff.
Crusaders showed steely composure and purpose, turning on a magnificent display of mistake-free rugby and dominating possession until late in the game.
The ACT's chances were not helped by outside centre Stirling Mortlock, who landed only five from nine attempts at goal, handing the Crusaders a 12-3 halftime lead.
The Brumbies gained momentum in the second period, peppering the Crusaders with a succession of attacks. But when Crusaders number eight Ron Cribb charged through a soft tackle attempt by hooker Jeremy Paul and chipped ahead to regather, the visitors grabbed the first try of the match in the 52nd minute.
With the game looking beyond hope, it was left to dynamic 19-year-old replacement flanker George Smith to bring the Brumbies back into contention.
From a lineout close to the Crusaders line, Smith charged straight through five defenders to cross beside the post and set up the easy conversion for Mortlock.
The ACT briefly captured the lead when Mortlock was on target with a close-range penalty to give the home side a two-point buffer.
But when South African referee Andre Watson awarded a penalty in the final moments, Mehrtens took his chance to seal the matter. Meanwhile, ACT Brumbies coach Jones believes a dozen of his side should be in the Wallaby squad.
He said the Wallaby squad for the year's first Test against Argentina to be named on June 7th should not be decided by the match between New South Wales and Queensland.
"They should be selecting on form and to select it on a one-off Queensland-New South Wales game I don't think is justifiable," he said.
Canterbury Crusaders skipper Todd Blackadder rounded off a dream weekend by earning a call-up to a new-look New Zealand squad for Tests against Tonga and Scotland.
Blackadder was drafted into the All Black squad with nine of his Canterbury team-mates.
New Zealand Squad: Backs - Christian Cullen, Doug Howlett, Jonah Lomu, Leon McDonald, Tana Umaga, Pita Alatini, Alama Ieremia, Mark Robinson, Tony Brown, Andrew Mehrtens, Byron Kelleher, Justin Marshall.
Forwards: Ron Cribb, Josh Kronfeld, Taine Randell, Scott Robertson, Reuben Thorne, Todd Blackadder, Troy Flavell, Norm Maxwell, Craig Dowd, Carl Hoeft, Kees Meeuws, Greg Sommerville, Anton Oliver, Mark Hammett.
