OPINION: Big moments define big matches. The Crusaders won the ones that mattered in Johannesburg to claim a richly-deserved eighth Super Rugby title with victory over the Lions.
Without question however the biggest moment of the game was when Lions flanker Kwagga Smith inexplicably charged into David Havili as the Crusaders fullback contested the high ball shortly before half-time.
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Smith's head slammed into Havili's hip, sending him into a backward somersault that saw him land dangerously on his back and neck.
It was ugly. Smith knew it was bad. The 60,000 fans inside Ellis Park knew it was bad. Perhaps most importantly, South African referee Jaco Peyper knew it was bad.
Lesser referees may have wavered in that moment. We've seen it before: match officials too scared to make the big call - the correct call - on the big occasion, to inevitably have a big say on the outcome of the big match.
But amid a sea of red shirts, Peyper thrust a red card into the thin Johannesburg air and sucked the wind out of Ellis Park.
In that moment, he removed any perceived bias he was alleged to have held. He made a laughing stock of the pre-match narrative that his selection as the referee for this final further undermined the integrity of a competition that doesn't have a lot to work with.
There are several - hell, countless - sticks with which SANZAAR deserves to be beaten over its governance of Super Rugby, but this was not one of them.
The criteria used to select Peyper was the same criteria used to select Glen Jackson for last year's final between the Hurricanes and the Lions at Westpac Stadium. I don't recall too many complaints about that appointment. Actually, I don't remember any.
Standards of officiating vary wildly across different sports for a multitude of reasons, but I'll take the best referee over the wrong call any day of the week.
We can argue 'til we're blue in the face about who we think that might be, but SANZAAR uses a criteria that's a little more robust than the one most others use.
All any fan, player, or critic ever wants is for the right decision to be made in the moment, and no one could argue Peyper made the wrong one today.
As obvious as it may have seemed to all who were watching that Smith had to be sent from the field, they're not the ones controlling the game. Peyper, under pressure, got it spot on.
The best part of it all is that while the decision had an impact on the outcome, it didn't ruin the game at all.
The Lions showed incredible fight to claw their way back into the match with 14 men, and it was only through the Crusaders' smart use of the bench and the healthy lead they'd managed to build that they held off the home side to win their first title since 2008.
Andrew Gourdie is a reporter and presenter for Newshub.
