The Crusaders clubbed together to give outgoing coach Robbie Deans the perfect leaving present.
Deans heads across the Tasman Sea on Monday to begin life as the coach of Australia with a fifth Super rugby title on his CV after his side defeated the NSW Waratahs in a nailbiting Super 14 final.
It was the Crusaders' ninth appearance in a final - their seventh since Deans took charge in 2000 - and the gripping contest provided the perfect send-off for their coach and fellow Canterbury and Crusaders stalwart Reuben Thorne and Caleb Ralph, who are heading to Japan.
Thorne has been part of every title-winning campaign by the Crusaders since Super rugby's inception in 1996 and when he entered the game off the bench in the 76th minute the capacity 25,500 crowd gave the former New Zealand captain a thunderous reception.
The Waratahs arrived in Christchurch with the hope that this year would be their year after being denied by the Crusaders in the 2005 final, their only previous appearance in the season finale.
But it was not to be as their reluctance to kick the ball out of their own 22 and a lack of territory and quality possession came back to haunt them despite two excellent tries by 20-year-old wing Lachie Turner which had given them a 12-11 lead at the break.
Turner was the star for the Waratahs in an enthralling first half as they bounced back from an early Daniel Carter penalty to shock the parochial Christchurch crowd with two tries by the young wing.
Turner's first five-pointer came in the eighth minute when he collected a superb cross-field kick by teenage fly-half Kurtley Beale, spun and dived over in the corner.
His second, in the 25th minute, pushed the Waratahs' lead out to 10-3 and was the result of an interception by openside flanker Phil Waugh deep in his own 22 after the Waratahs had put themselves under pressure with some suicidal rugby close to their own goal-line.
Having stolen the ball, Waugh was eventually hauled down just inside his own half and the loose ball was snaffled by Sam Norton-Knight and spun wide to Turner who chased his own kick to nudge the ball over the line and dive on it.
Beale added the extras to make it 12-3 before Carter slotted his second penalty of the match to narrow the gap.
Then two minutes before half-time the Crusaders finally broke through the staunch Waratahs defence when a break by wing Kade Poki resulted in the ball being spun wide for number eight Mose Tuiali'i to dive over in the corner.
Carter could not convert meaning the visitors went into the interval with a slender 12-11 lead.
The Crusaders scored points early in the second half with another Carter penalty and they thought they had put another nail in the Waratahs' coffin with a try by Wyatt Crockett in the 55th minute.
But the prop's effort was disallowed because of foul play by Brad Thorn off the ball and to make matters worse the big lock was sent to the sin-bin for ten minutes.
But being a man down galvanised the home side and their aggressive defending forced the Waratahs into mistakes, and in the end Thorn's stupidity turned out not be costly.
In fact, it was the Crusaders' composure and steely determination which proved to be the difference as Carter slotted a drop goal, when they had been held up short of the tryline, then added a penalty with five minutes to go to ensure a famous victory.
