Another Bluesprint
PROUD Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder has sounded a warning to his Super Rugby rivals by claiming the seven-time champions can play razzle-dazzle rugby every week.
Blackadder was beaming with pride after the Crusaders’ nine-try 59-12 annihilation of the Blues in Christchurch last night in a virtuoso display led by All Black superstars Richie Mccaw and Dan Carter.
He had laid down the gauntlet with an angry outburst after the loss to the Rebels in Melbourne but said last night’s dominant display was the high point of the season.
‘‘The most frustrating thing was I knew we had that in us. What you saw out there today is where we should be all the time. We’re more than capable of that, week-in, weekout.’’
Blackadder said it would have been impossible to pick a man of the match but said Carter and Mccaw had been outstanding.
Mccaw said the Crusaders felt they had ‘‘put it together for not far off 80’’ minutes and would take great confidence from the victory.
But he warned: ‘‘Every game is critical now if you’re going to be in with a sniff [of the playoffs].’’
The All Blacks skipper was brilliant at No 8 in Kieran Read’s absence and felt he was ‘‘slowly getting back the hang of things’’. He also said Carter – in his first outing in the No 10 jersey this year – had ‘‘really directed things well. You can’t beat having a guy of his class.’’
Carter, who kicked six of eight conversions and ran freely, pronounced it a ‘‘fun night’’.
Locksamwhitelock, who had an outstanding game and dominated Ali Williams, said it ‘‘felt like the Crusaders of old’’.
The Crusaders had a bonus point banked by halftime with five tries in the first half .
They bagged their fifth after the halftime hooter sounded when hooker Corey Flynn crashed over for the first of his two tries. Dan Carter’s conversion gave the Crusaders a surreal 31-0 lead.
The cockahoop home team were simply sublime in the first spell, while the beleaguered Blues fumbled, bumbled and stumbled through another inept effort.
Their long injury toll lurched from bad to worse, losing wing Benson Stanley early to a concussion coach Pat Lam suspects could end his season.
Lam said it was ‘‘a great night for Crusaders rugby’’ and insisted his team never threw in the towel despite ‘‘scrambling for most of the game’’. The under-fire coach couldn’t be faulted for matador defence, for players spilling the pill or kicking the ball directly out on the full. Nor can he be blamed for two successive scrum turnovers, lineout lapses or being penalised in possession at the breakdown.
World Cup All Blacks Sam Whitelock and Owen Franks rediscovered their missing mojo in the Crusaders front and second rows while the backrow of skipper Mccaw, Todd and George Whitelock were ruthlessly dominant at the breakdown.
The Crusaders backline thrived on a steady supply of front-foot ball with master conductor Carter pulling the strings superbly in his first outing of the season in the pivotal No 10 role.
Man of the match Zac Guildford should have clinched an All Blacks squad recall after injuries to Richard Kahui and Cory Jane. He