Laumape, Jordie show their class
The genuine weirdness that saw out the Lions’ tour (if Ken Owens was actually onside why on earth did he panic and fling the ball away?) kicked on with the return of Super Rugby.
Up in Tokyo the Sun wolves, who two weeks ago were being humiliated 94-7 by the Lions in Johannesburg, look set at halftime yesterday for a kicking from the Blues, then channelled Godzilla in the second spell to leave the Blues beaten and hugely embarrassed.
The Brumbies sent kids to Hamilton, and the second-stringers surprisingly gave the Chiefs a real run until halftime, if never really looking likely to actually win.
What we got from the Crusaders and the Hurricanes though was what you might have not only expected, but also hoped for.
A local derby where great skills were matched by huge intensity, watched by a massive, excited crowd of over 23,000 people.
So close, so exciting, and won, here’s a change, with tries.
There were stellar performers on both sides. Ngani Laumape looks every inch the All Black. It’s not just that he makes ground in almost every tackle, it’s how he serves the players around him.
There’s a lot more to him than strength and speed, and the fact becomes more and more obvious with every game he plays.
Watching Jordie Barrett’s nerveless, laser point kicking was a constant reminder that who should be kicking in the All Blacks is likely to be a discussion that will only become more heated with time.
In the end there was no denying the Canes, whose courage, after being rocked first with late changes, and then an early blitz by the Crusaders, was huge.
Naturally, with so much hanging on the result for their title hopes, the Crusaders didn’t easily fold.
Nobody epitomised the effort more than Luke Romano, whose upper body strength saw him wrestle to a halt potent runners like Sam Lousi and Vaea Fifita, while making bucking, metre-grabbing bursts with the ball himself.
Richie Mo’unga struggled against the Lions, but last night he was back to his mature, skilled, quick-thinking best, floating over a long pass for Seta Tamanivalu to start the game with a spectacular try.
Kieran Read showed huge levels of fitness and commitment, still cleareyed enough after three brutal tests in a row, to flick a perfect pass after running from the back of a scrum to give Israel Dagg the chance to step Jordie Barrett for the third Crusaders’ try,
But ultimately the night belonged to the Canes, who, you’d imagine, would out-gun the first XV of the Brumbies in Canberra next weekend, while the Crusaders probable game with the Highlanders in Christchurch should write another epic chapter in the southern rivalry. One. How ill-informed and inaccurate did the opinions of some journalists prove to be? Stephen Jones predicted the Lions would lose the series 3-0. Who else would be silly enough to put that in print? Oh, it was me. Let’s move on.
Two. Why were most predictions (the TAB had the All Blacks four to one favourites to win the last test) so wrong? Because the Lions were much better than a lot of us expected, and with muscular, highly organised defence and terrific goal-kicking, you can win, or draw a test.
Three. Does this mean Warren Gatland will be a hot candidate to take over from Steve Hansen after the next World Cup? Maybe. But it’d probably take a terrible All Black campaign in 2019 to see Gatland go straight to the top job. The issue wouldn’t automatically be all about him. It’ll probably be as much about who he’d bring with him as assistants. Remember that a major reason Robbie Deans missed out to Graham Henry in 2008 was that Henry presented with assistants Hansen and Wayne Smith. Alternatively, if the All Blacks win, or make the final, in Japan, would Gatland be prepared to serve his time as an assistant to Ian Foster?