Canterbury Crusaders beat their New Zealand rivals Wellington Hurricanes 19-12 in Christchurch to win the inaugural Super 14 final.
Canterbury outside centre Casey Laulala scored the only try of a match played in thick fog while flyhalf Dan Carter kicked four penalties and a conversion.
"We tried to keep it simple. We knew we had to keep it tighter. There were a few mistakes with the slippery ball...it wasn't pretty but getting there was great," Canterbury captain Richie McCaw said in a televised interview.
"We kept our composure. We were really hungry on defence, we forced the turnovers and played it down their end of the paddock and that was the key we were able to convert pressure into points."
Scrumhalf Piri Weepu and flyhalf David Holwell landed one penalty each for the Hurricanes, while replacement Jimmy Gopperth booted two in the second half.
The Hurricanes, appearing in their first Super rugby final, were still in the game at 9-9 with just 15 minutes to go when Laulala crashed over from close-range to seal victory for the Crusaders.
"We're pretty disappointed with the result but we're very pleased with the way we went this year," Wellington captain Rodney So'oialo said.
"Both teams defended well and it was pretty hard to crack but that try really cost us at the end."
The Crusaders won the old Super 12 title a record five times, including last year, and were favourites to win the first expanded competition after finishing the regular season on top of the ladder.
They were unable to play their normal free-flowing game because of the bad weather but still dominated the match, spending almost 80 percent of the game in Wellington territory.
The fog, which was so thick that officials had briefly contemplated postponing the match until Sunday, ruined the game as a spectacle and produced an avalanche of errors from both teams.
