The chilly wind-blown rain in Christchurch was a tonic to the Crusaders, who thrashed the Auckland Blues 23-3, leapfrogging them on the table and suggesting they will be the team to beat this year.
The Crusaders started the competition slowly—as they usually do—but looked less formidable without iconic captain Ritchie McCaw, who also captains the New Zealand national side.
McCaw was allowed to stand down during the Super 15 to recover from over a decade of top tier rugby, during which time he played 120 games for the Crusaders and 116 games for the All Blacks.
On Saturday, fill-in captain Kieran Read returned from injury and immediately hit top form, as the Crusaders pared their game down to fundamentals, or rugby’s version of trench warfare—winter had arrived in the Super 15 and the Crusaders brought their winter game.
The young Blues—from sunny Auckland—were up for the fight, but were outclassed by the masters.
The Crusader’s season could be personified by their All Black prop Owen Franks. So far this year he’s been unsighted, quietly going about his set-piece work. In this game, though, he was back to his frightening best, massive, menacing and in constant motion.
Outplaying him was lock Sam Whitelock, who would have brought a smile to the faces of the All Black selectors who watched the match.
The whole pack was outstanding in the forward dominated game. But the backs were a perfect compliment. Inside centre Ryan Crotty scored a try after charging down a kick and was combative in defence.
Chiefs vs Crusaders
On Friday night (May 24) the Crusaders play the competition-leading Chiefs at their home in Hamilton, where they are almost unbeatable. What a game that will be.
For the Chiefs, a win would secure a finals spot. They haven’t played that well this year, but they have played well enough to win. In this clash, they will have to be almost faultless—and aggressive—or they will be swamped by the Crusaders.
Last Friday night (May 17), the Chiefs beat the Hurricanes 17-12 away in Wellington. But a slightly more experienced Hurricanes side would have beaten them.
A key match-up was between rival All Black flyhalfs Aaron Cruden for the Chiefs and Beauden Barrett for the Hurricanes, who both controlled play well.
On Friday, Cruden comes up against the great Dan Carter for the Crusaders. This contest will be one key to the game, with history backing Carter and his casual efficiency.
The Chiefs are playing at home, but the Crusaders have achieved a team-wide cohesiveness that is as efficient as a shark – and as frightening.
Wallabies Squad for British and Lions Tour
In Australia, former Crusaders and All Blacks coach Robbie Deans named his train-on Wallaby squad to play the British and Irish Lions in June—minus the controversial flyhalf Quade Cooper. The pair fell out last year when an injured Cooper said the atmosphere in the Wallaby camp was “toxic”.
He was fined $60,000 and banned for three games.
Talking about Cooper’s omission, Deans said: “Test rugby is another level from Super Rugby and we would like to see Quade defend in the front line.
“We would like him to assert himself physically in the game because it’s an element which you can’t avoid at Test level.”
This enraged Cooper’s Queensland Reds coach, Ewen McKenzie, who said Cooper did defend in the front line. Cooper sometimes switched to fullback in defence to strengthen the counter-attack, not to hide.
McKenzie said Deans should have raised his concerns about Cooper. “It’s easy to say that now. What’s he been saying for the last 13 weeks?”
McKenzie said that he, Deans and Cooper met to discuss Cooper’s defensive role early last year—“we haven’t had any discussions since.”
Meanwhile, Brumbies flanker George Smith’s triumphant return to Super rugby was cut short by a knee injury in the 22-28 loss to the Waratahs, ending speculation of a Wallaby re-call.
Finally, former rugby league star Israel Folau was picked in his first season of rugby with the Sydney-based Waratahs. Folau has adapted quickly, but remains a brilliant novice. Further, Folau hasn’t committed to rugby beyond this year. He is considering offers from both league and union.
Wallabies preliminary squad
Backs: Israel Folau*, Digby Ioane, Joe Tomane, Nick Cummins, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Rob Horne, Pat McCabe, Christian Leali’ifano*, Berrick Barnes, James O’Connor, Will Genia.
Forwards: Wycliff Palu, Michael Hooper, Liam Gill, Scott Higginbotham, Ben Mowen*, Rob Simmons, James Horwill, Sitaleki Timani, James Slipper, Ben Alexander, Benn Robinson, Sekope Kepu, Stephen Moore, Saia Faingaa.
* Denotes uncapped player
Peter Lalanaabaravi is a rugby writer with over 30 years experience.
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