The Crusaders have kept their Super Rugby Pacific season on life support with a dogged 29-27 win over the Blues in Christchurch on Saturday.
Facing a do-or-die scenario, the defending champions rallied behind a Herculean effort from their forward pack, keeping their title defence alive with just their third win of the year and shaking off a tumultuous week in style.
With a bonus point in defeat, the Blues and the Hurricanes are tied atop the table, meaning the results of next weekend's final round will determine who claims home advantage through the playoffs.
The Canes host the Highlanders next Saturday afternoon, immediately followed by the Blues against the Chiefs at Eden Park.
The Crusaders take on Moana Pasifika in the final round, where they'll be highly favoured to win in Christchurch. They'll still be reliant on other results going their way to secure a post-season berth, particularly the fortunes of the Drua in Dunedin on Sunday.
The opening half was a quintessential arm wrestle, as both sides tucked the pill and put their formidable forward packs to work.
Fuss-free pick and go rugby saw returning Crusaders flanker Ethan Blackadder open the scoring from close range in the 20th minute, before prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi responded for the Blues just moments later in similar fashion.
Off the back of a powerful Adrian Lam surge, Tu'ungafasi was on hand to reel in a superb offload from the red-hot Hoskins Sotutu to crash over in the corner and extend the Blues' advantage to 15-7.
With the Blues expecting a shot at goal with first-half time expired, a savvy quick tap from a penalty by Codie Taylor instead sent Chay Fihaki across the chalk to narrow their deficit to three points heading into the sheds.
Poor discipline continued to plague the Blues at the start of the second half, with Stephen Perofeta somewhat contentiously shown a yellow card for an intentional knockdown of a pass.
Despite being a man short, the visitors were the first to find their way to the line, after some rampaging runs from their pack opened a huge overlap for Adrian Lam, with Sotutu's laser long ball giving his wing a clean run in.
But the Crusaders replied with two slick tries of their own, with a crossfield kick putting Christian Lio-Wille in and some brilliant support play and a masterful Fihaki offload combining to put Noah Hotham behind the posts and give their side a five-point edge with a quarter to play.
With the match entering its final 10 minutes, the Blues finally found some quality field position, biding their time before another long ball found Lam to expertly finish in the corner for his second. Plummer couldn't convert from the sideline, leaving the visitors two points adrift with seven minutes remaining.
The locals gave the Blues no sniff at a late winner, closing out the match at the right end of the field for a monumental victory.
Crusaders 29 (Blackadder, Fihaki, Lio-Willie, Hotham tries; Burke con, Fihaki 2 con, pen) Blues 27 (Tu'ungafasi 2, Lam 2 tries; Plummer pen, 2 con)
