![\"Codie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4JQQMMY_260403CrusadersDrua_035_1_jpg.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nCodie Taylor crosses for his fourth try for the Crusaders against the Fijian Drua.
\nPhoto: photosport\n<\/p>\n
Hooker Codie Taylor bagged four of the Crusaders’ 11 tries as they farewelled their Addington stadium venue with an emotional and resounding 69-26 defeat of Fijian Drua.<\/p>\n
Taylor was the star in his 150th appearance as the Super Rugby Pacific powerhouses notched a 100th win at the stadium that was hastily erected in 2012 in the wake of the previous year’s devastating earthquake.<\/p>\n
Fourteen seasons later and the Crusaders drew the curtain down on an unfashionable venue which was their home base during a period of outstanding success. They secured eighth titles – seven of them overseen during Scott Robertson’s dynasty as coach.<\/p>\n
The team will now move to the newly-finished Te Kaha Stadium later this month on a high, unfurling a brilliant brand of rugby to see off the outmatched Drua.<\/p>\n
They scored five tries in the first 31 minutes to essentially seal the outcome, with Taylor crossing twice from lineout drives and wing Sevu Reece bagging an early double.<\/p>\n
Fellow-wing Chay Fihaki also finished the match with a brace while first-five Taha Kemara slotted seven conversions.<\/p>\n
Taylor doubled his tally to four tries early in the second half – extending his career record to 53, the most by any forward in Super Rugby.<\/p>\n
The All Blacks veteran was replaced to a rousing reception shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n
For the Fijian visitors, powerful No.8 Elia Canakaivata bagged a double as they produced a more competitive display in the second half.<\/p>\n
It was a third straight win for the Crusaders, whose 4-3 record lifts them to fourth on the standings ahead of matches across the Tasman against the Reds and Force.<\/p>\n
Follow how the game unfolded below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Codie Taylor crosses for his fourth try for the Crusaders against the Fijian Drua. Photo: photosport Hooker Codie…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-361783","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-podcasts","13":"tag-public-radio","14":"tag-radio-new-zealand","15":"tag-rnz","16":"tag-top-news","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-topnews","19":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}