Crusaders hold on to edge out Lions in Johannesburg
Tries to Sam Whitelock and Jack Goodhue in the space of three minutes ensured the Crusaders emerged 14-8 victors against the Lions in Johannesburg yesterday.
Scoreless for the first 49 minutes, the Crusaders, in their return to Ellis Park for the first time since they beat the Lions 25-17 in the Super Rugby final in August, eventually got some rhythm and continuity to their game to record tries to skipper Whitelock and Goodhue.
The fixture was also tinged with controversy. With two minutes remaining the Crusaders looked set to lose left wing George Bridge to the sin bin after he grabbed Marnus Schoeman as they competed
for the ball in the air, but referee Jaco Peyper, who ironically red carded Kwagga Smith for taking David Havili as he jumped into orbit during the final last year, said the flawed technique only warranted a penalty.
The crowd didn’t like it, and their mood got worse as the Crusaders negated the Lions’ lineout drive to force a turnover and emerge with a win.
There were several other pivotal moments. Openside flanker Matt Todd, back in the side after missing the previous match against the Bulls because he had tender ribs, emphasised his value by making some fine tackles and executing robberies at the breakdown and a mighty defensive scrum in the 60th minute also sparked celebrations among the New Zealanders, forcing the Lions to retreat empty-handed from a juicy try-scoring opportunity.
The atmosphere in the Crusaders coaching box in the opening 40 minutes must have been grim.
‘‘We have created a number of opportunities but just haven’t nailed them. That is probably our halftime chat,’’ Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said in his halftime interview with the local broadcaster.
That short statement said plenty. Left wing Bridge had two tries disallowed because of forward passes by playmaker Mitchell Hunt, and a host of other opportunities to punish the Lions were missed because of errors.
While many of those botched opportunities were self-inflicted, others were due to fine technique at the breakdown from their opponents - as was the case when muscular Lions hooker Malcolm Marx trapped the ball in a ruck and earned a penalty bang on halftime.
The Crusaders conceded 11 turnovers in the first 40 minutes, but it wasn’t as if the Lions had made a mighty contribution to this start-stop opening stanza, either, because they lost the ball on eight occasions.
So it was the Lions that led 5-0 as they retreated to their cave deep inside the near empty stadium; just 8000 bothered to turn up, a far cry from the 62,000 who filled the joint when the same two teams clashed in the final.
The only try of the opening spell was scored by left wing Madosh Tambwe, a result of the hosts having an extra man in the chain to put their speedster into space for an easy run to the line.
Whitelock, who declined a couple of chances to kick for goal in the first half and instead instructed his men to prepare for attacking lineouts, finally got his side on the scoreboard in the 50th minute when he crashed over the line from a ruck.
A few minutes later midfielder Jack Goodhue joined his captain on the scoresheet, capping off a movement that started when Manasa Mataele, who replaced No 12 Ryan Crotty at halftime, thrust himself into space off a lineout.
Mataele provided some muchneeded X-factor by busting through a tackle by Marx, and then stampeded into space prior to offloading to Goodhue near the line. It came at a cost, though, for Goodhue. He was injured - it appeared to be an issue with his left leg - as he dragged a defender over the line and was forced to join Crotty on the sideline for the final 27 minutes.