Four played, four lost: Crusaders’ start is historically poor
The Crusaders’ start to the Super Rugby Pacific season went from poor to historically bad with their fourth straight loss, a 14-10 home defeat by the Hurricanes on Friday.
The 11-time champions hadn’t lost three matches in a row at the start of season since 1996 before they lost to the Fijian Drua last weekend.
They had never previously lost four matches in succession, and there’ll be little respite for the franchise against the Blues this weekend.
“We’re trying really hard but it’s just not sticking,” Crusaders stand-in captain David Havili said. “We gave ourselves a chance in the contest tonight but we couldn’t quite finish it off.”
The Crusaders, who have been champions in the last seven seasons, produced their best performance so far in their first home match of the year.
Yet, they were outplayed all over the park by the Hurricanes, who won every statistic. But after trailing 7-0 at halftime, the Crusaders rallied to lead 10-7 with 10 minutes remaining, only to see the match snatched away by the Hurricanes with a 79th-minute try.
The Hurricanes posted their fourth straight win, their best start for seven years, and stay atop the table.
They should have won much more easily than they did. A 14thminute try to Tyrel Lomax looked likely to be the first of many tries for the Hurricanes, who dominated possession and time in the opposition 22.
But they were held out sometimes by poor option-taking or execution, or mostly by tenacious Crusaders defence. The Hurricanes attacked relentlessly but struggled to break the Crusaders’ line.
The Crusaders didn’t put together a coherent attack until the 52nd minute and scored a minute later through Cullen Grace. They then went ahead against the run of play with a Riley Hohepa penalty.
Hohepa, who played briefly for the Hurricanes, is the third first five the Crusaders have used in four matches this season.
The Crusaders also were without regular captain Scott Barrett, who is sidelined for six weeks with a broken finger.
The Crusaders ended with 13 players on the field after two yellow cards.
The Crusaders are marginally in front of last-place Western Force, who are also on a four-match losing streak following a 22-14 home defeat by Moana Pasifika. — AP