Crusaders send out ominous warning
Damian McKenzie knows that if the Crusaders make a promise, they are loath to break it.
Prior to their 45-23 rout of the Chiefs at AMI Stadium on Saturday night, the Crusaders had enough clues to realise the the odds of winning the Super Rugby opener would be greatly enhanced if they created as much turbulence as possible for opposition first fiveeighth McKenzie.
And they stuck to their word, with things largely going to plan as they did a good job of reducing time and space for the All Black who has been switched to first-five from fullback by new Chiefs coach Colin Cooper.
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson was satisfied with the job his men did on McKenzie, who, because he stood flat to challenge the defensive line, had to make quick decisions while men in red and black rushed up from all directions.
‘‘We turned him in a couple of times and put a lot of pressure on that pass, and got up in their face,’’ Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said following his side’s bonuspoint win. ‘‘I thought both teams, defensively, for a long period of time were great.
‘‘When we got our game plan right, we played them quite narrow and opportunities were wide. Once we got two or three times into it, we looked really good.’’
Everyone knows what a prodigious talent McKenzie with No 15 on his back, but the transition to first-five, at the behest of the All Blacks selectors, is clearly going to take time.
Some of McKenzie’s passes put team-mates into holes - he was responsible for giving Sam Cane the space prior to his long-range try - and within the first minute exposed the Crusaders defensive screen when he set-up what should have been a certain try, had midfielder Johnny Faauli not fumbled a pass.
Other incidents were less memorable. McKenzie’s first major error occured when a flat pass struck the rushing Ryan Crotty, who kicked the ball ahead of Richie Mo’unga to score. In the wake of the penalty try following Lachlan Boshier’s high tackle on Crotty in the 71st minute, McKenzie joined his team in panicking and errors resulted in them conceding two late tries.
Studying the Stormers, and their first-five Damian Willemse, is the Crusaders’ next priority ahead of their next match against the South Africans in Christchurch on Saturday night.
The Stormers should have drawn with the Waratahs in Sydney, but botched a lineout and conceded a try to flanker Ned Hanigan to lose 34-27 in the final seconds.
The signs are already extremely promising for the Crusaders, the defending champions. Although a couple of early scrums were shaky, with tighthead prop Nepo Laulala earning his side two penalties, and both teams were inaccurate with some lineouts, they finished strongly.
Most pleasing was that when All Blacks front rowers Wyatt Crockett and Codie Taylor were replaced in the second half, the scrum never suffered; to win a 5m defensive scrum in the second half was to be cherished.
The seven-try rout over the Chiefs appeared to surprise Robertson who was concerned his team might get run down in the final quarter.
This wasn’t the biggest winning margin against the old foes from Hamilton, the 48-3 victory in 1999 still stands, but it was convincing and captain Sam Whitelock signalled he is still prepared to be bold by spurning two kickable penalties and instead electing for lineout drives.
‘‘I actually thought, going into the game, we might be a bit short of a trot,’’ Robertson admitted. ‘‘Going into the last 20 (minutes) if it was close, if it got a bit loose, they might play over the top of us. But it was actually the total opposite. So I was just really impressed with our intent and ability to stay in that tight game.’’
Super Rugby wrap P14