Harsh lesson for All Blacks captain Sam Cane must be absorbed ...

ANALYSIS: An All Blacks captain and flanker dives into a ruck, conceding a crucial penalty that kills his Super Rugby team's hopes of winning a title.

Sound familiar? No, this isn't about Chiefs' No 7 Sam Cane and his decision to try and nick the ball from the feet of Crusaders No 8 Christian Lio-Willie in the final in Hamilton last Saturday night.

Not yet, anyway. Think back to 2014, instead, to when the Crusaders met the Waratahs in the final in Sydney.

With less than two minutes to play before fulltime, the Waratahs trailed 32-30 and were frantically trying to find a slither of space in a defensive chain stacked with bodies. They weren't going far.

Then it happened. Richie McCaw, the All Blacks captain who was operating at No 6 to allow Matt Todd to operate at openside, spotted a chance to shunt the Waratahs out of the contest.

Waratahs replacement hooker Tolu Latu carried from a ruck, and without being tackled, hit the dirt for a quick recycle. The bait had been laid and McCaw, the ultimate scavenger, attempted to rip the ball from his grasp.

That was when his luck ran out, and the blood drained from the face of every Crusaders supporter at ANZ Stadium.

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Chiefs co-captain Sam Cane was yellow carded during the Super Rugby Pacific final in Hamilton. The Crusaders won 25-20.

Referee Craig Joubert deemed McCaw had entered the ruck incorrectly, and a penalty was awarded to the Waratahs: "You weren't the tackler,'' Joubert explained as he used his right arm to imitate the incorrect angle McCaw had entered the breakdown.

Bernard Foley kicked the decisive penalty from about 45m, and the Waratahs won 33-32.

There was no bitterness, not publicly anyway, from Crusaders captain Kieran Read and coach Todd Blackadder in the post-match press conference. They copped it sweet.

Afterwards reporters from New Zealand and Australia asked if any other Crusaders players - McCaw was in hot demand - would front to offer a few words.

The answer? No. So the reporters played the waiting game, and lingered.

When the Crusaders finally emerged, some having started the task of drowning their sorrows, they were a sombre bunch. McCaw was immediately surrounded by TV cameras and microphones: "I probably should have known better, really,'' he admitted.

He had rolled the dice and been stung. McCaw reckoned Joubert's decision was a 50-50 call, but accepted it.

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Richie McCaw of the Crusaders reacts to a late penalty given to the Waratahs during the Super Rugby final in Sydney in 2014.

"I'm pretty annoyed, but I can't do much about it now,'' McCaw added. "It's one of those things you have got to live with.''

Then the players walked out of the vast arena, and boarded a bus that took all of five minutes to arrive at their hotel at the complex that was originally built for the 2000 Olympics.

The team manager followed in their footsteps, picking up the empty cans and bottles plonked inside the foyer, as the players prepared to get on the drink. It can't have been the most cheerful of evenings.

Later, when the Crusaders were back in New Zealand, Joubert contacted Blackadder to admit he was wrong to penalise McCaw. Blackadder accepted the apology, relayed the news to McCaw and life continued.

The storylines of what happened in Sydney in 2014, and what unfolded in Hamilton last weekend, are similar. Two All Blacks captains, both flankers, had given away vital penalties at the death.

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Kurtley Beale of the Waratahs is tackled by Richie McCaw of the Crusaders during the Super Rugby final in 2014.

There's one big difference. Cane shouldn't get an apology from Ben O'Keeffe.

O'Keeffe was right to penalise Cane for not entering the ruck correctly, and trying to rob the ball when it wasn't meant to be handled.

The incident in the 72nd minute, when the Chiefs were ahead 20-15, will haunt Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan and Cane.

The latter did more than push his luck. He dared O'Keeffe to be brave enough to punish him, to see if he had the bottle. O'Keeffe didn't disappoint.

He issued Cane a yellow card for good measure, forcing him to watch from the sideline as Crusaders hooker Codie Taylor scored the decisive try in the 73rd minute that was converted by Richie Mo'unga.

It was a costly error. His team was under pressure, and Cane, who had played 86 tests, cracked.

In about 11 weeks the All Blacks meet France in their first World Cup game in Paris. Cane has already received a blunt reminder of how fine the margins can be in a high-stakes encounter.

O'Keeffe made him take a hearty dose of sour medicine. All Blacks fans can only hope it heals the flaw in their captain and openside flanker’s game.