Crusaders on high alert as Brumbies stun Chiefs
The Brumbies of old. That’s what Scott Robertson thought when he got a look at them doing a number on the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday.
Crusaders head coach Robertson was on the team bus in Perth, headed to HBF Park for their round 12 match against the Force, and wasn’t about to waste an opportunity to do some early scouting.
It’s fair to say Robertson was impressed with the Brumbies’ third win on the trot against Kiwi teams, and their first on New Zealand soil.
‘‘They go to their maul when they need to, and [captain] Nic White is so important ... we know they can play, and it’s going to be a hell of a match,’’ he said ahead of Friday’s fixture against the Brumbies in Canberra.
‘‘The Brumbies games are the ones you want to play in, we’ve got such a great history ... both teams have won some really big battles, we know the importance on the table.’’
Robertson was speaking after his team got back on track by thumping the Force 53-15, a result which very much keeps their toptwo hopes alive.
However, four points behind the second-placed Brumbies heading into their week 13 clash, they’ll have to knock the form Aussies over to avoid drifting off the pace before returning home for their final two regular season matches, against the Drua and Reds.
The good news for the Crusaders is they’ll welcome captain Scott Barrett back from suspension for the match, one they’ll go into with confidence after righting some wrongs in Perth on Saturday night.
Robertson cut a more relaxed figure after the eight tries-to-two romp, knowing the importance of a bounce back performance after they produced what he called the ‘‘worst 20 minutes’’ of rugby under his watch since 2017 against the Waratahs the previous week.
‘‘It was more about how we talk about having the deepest prep, it was pretty superficial. Obviously, they were pretty hungry and desperate, the Waratahs, and they’re a good side, take nothing away from them,’’ Robertson said. ‘‘But we disrespected them in our preparation, and this week the week we’ve had here, totally contrasting. I think the effort reflected that.’’
What made their bounce back win against a side Robertson said should have beaten the Blues the previous week even better was the fact they lost four players – Oli Jager, Zach Gallagher, Mitch Drummond, and Dominic Gardiner – to Covid-19 ahead of kickoff.
The Crusaders fielded three debutants in the match, with academy members and front rowers George Bell and Seb Calder, and
Northland lock Liam HallamEames, all earning their first caps off the bench.
Hooker Bell, who the Crusaders have locked in long-term, played the entire second half, and scored the team’s final try of the night.
‘‘Just really proud. Couple of 19-year-olds flying over here and playing with their heroes. They’ve been training with us all year,’’ Robertson said, adding they required New Zealand Rugby to give an exemption for teenagers Bell and Calder to play.
While outside backs Will Jordan and Leicester Fainga’anuku received plenty of the attention for their hat-tricks against the Force, Robertson was quick to point to the series of defensive stops, including a couple on their goal line, when summing up his team’s eighth win of the season.
‘‘That’s what we’re built on,’’ he said.
While the status of the four players rubbed out ahead of kickoff won’t be clarified until the team’s media session tomorrow, the Crusaders will have the rested Jack Goodhue, Codie Taylor and Sevu Reece available for selection against the Brumbies.