Possession-starved Crusaders seek answers
Living off scraps and doing a mountain of defending isn’t sustainable – that much is clear as the wobbling Crusaders switch focus to Sunday’s crunch home game against the Blues.
It’s a game the reigning champions must win to guarantee themselves a home final on May 8, something they would have accomplished if they’d beaten the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday night.
However, for the third straight match, the Crusaders were on the wrong end of the possession and territory battle, forcing them to attempt a whopping 206 tackles in the 26-25 defeat.
Head coach Scott Robertson knows they need to be better, and that life is tough enough in this competition without operating on just 39 per cent of possession and 38 per cent territory.
‘‘It’s a big part of what we’re doing as a coaching group, how we can get better around that area, so we’ve got better game management,’’ Robertson said.
‘‘Your kicking game is pretty important, your discipline and execution as well. It’s a couple of things that we can iron out. But that’s the art of it, and as a group you’ve just got to keep evolving in this competition if you want to hold the trophy.’’
The other pressing issue the Crusaders will address is their failure to pull the trigger on a late drop goal attempt after working their way into the Chiefs’ 22. Pivot Richie Mo’unga was in the pocket, but the ball from Bryn Hall never came before a breakdown penalty doomed them.
Robertson didn’t pin the blame on either Hall or Mo’unga, but was clearly frustrated his team died wondering a week after David Havili slotted one to bury the Hurricanes in golden point.
‘‘We want to take that as soon as we can. We will analyse it. We know you’ve just got to give the ball and trust it when the ball is in the right position.’’
Despite living off scraps, the Crusaders outscored the Chiefs three tries to two and, outside of conceding a few too many line breaks for their liking, put in a fine defensive shift under feverish pressure.
But, having led 17-9 at halftime, they paid the price for mistakes, such as Sevu Reece tossing a loose ball inside his own 22, and Mitchell Drummond picking up the ball from an offside position after Mo’unga spilled a pass in front of his sticks.
‘‘Those are the moments,’’ Robertson said, knowing the two errors led directly to 10 Chiefs’ points.
‘‘We played some great football for a lot of it. Defensively, we were outstanding, our maul was good, our scrum was strong. There was lots of positive stuff in there, it’s just the key moments. We’ve just got to make sure we get consistent positives on top of each other, not niggly outs.’’
Robertson is hopeful centre
Leicester Fainga’anuku, who scored a try before leaving the field shortly before halftime due to a head knock, will be good to go against the Blues.
He failed his head injury assessment. However, Robertson said he was feeling ‘‘great’’ yesterday morning, and an eight-day turnaround boded well.
The rested Sam Whitelock and Cullen Grace will return to the side, while hooker Codie Taylor will also return to the starting XV for their last match before a final round bye.
‘‘Look, we can be better, there is no doubt about it. And we have to be,’’ Robertson said, reflecting on their performances since their round five bye.
‘‘Each game is a final, it’s a knockout game. Everyone knows each so well, so it’s second time around and within a short period of weeks it just kind of flares.
‘‘We’re fighting for two home games now with a win on Sunday. It’s livened things up. How good is sport?’’