Crusaders thrash clueless Rebels
YOU just knew that when Sam Whitelock stretched his giant hands around the ball in the opening seconds of this match, and scattered defenders like King Kong with a hangover, that the Crusaders were in a cranky mood.
The result? A 85-26 rout over the Rebels at AMI Stadium last night that ensures the Crusaders keep the heat on the Chiefs as they fight for the top NZ conference spot through to the final round of the Super Rugby competition next weekend.
Lock Whitelock had a number of reasons to make a few points in this match; in addition to celebrating his 100th appearance for the Crusaders, he was also captaining the side in the absence of Kieran Read and there was that not-so-trivial matter of getting things back on track following that miserable 23-13 loss to the Chiefs in Suva.
OK, the Rebels defended like a mob who poked their head of the changing shed pre-match and decided that having to work in the frigid Canterbury air just wasn’t on, so decided to roam the ground in spirit only.
Tackles – they missed more than just a few. At times it was just downright embarrassing..
The Crusaders, however, had to be good enough to exploit the Aussies and it all started with Whitelock receiving the opening kick-off and blasting upfield; he really did mean business; a couple of minutes later Whitelock scored the first try of the night, a nice wee plum thanks to No 8 Jimmy Tupou charging down a clearing kick by Rebels playmaker Jack Debreczeni.
By halftime the Crusaders had bagged seven tries – with midfielder Ryan Crotty especially potent by running hard at the line and showing few signs of the calf injury that ruled him out of the Chiefs game – and from there was only a question of whether the inevitable changes in the second half would affect the momentum. The fact is they didn’t. Within 25 minutes of the restart they had added another five tries and several of them were crackers. Replacement flanker Peter Samu, having already scored one for himself, gave the 10,000-strong crowd more reasons to lift the volume when he took off on a long-range foray before sending wing Johnny McNicholl over for his second.
A minute or so later, it was fetcher Matt Todd’s turn to add to the fun. The plucky No 7, probably the best man on the park, fielded the ball inside his own half, found a massive hole up the middle of the park and completed JOHN DAVISON/PHOTOSPORT a run of around 60m to score.
Another plus for the Crusaders was that their scrum, which went missing against the Chiefs and resulted in forwards coach Dave Hewett addressing several technical issues, was returned to full power.
The red and black pack turned the ignition switch from the beginning, and coach Todd Blackadder was so confident he was able to replace key tighthead prop Owen Franks with Mike Alaalatoa in the 30th minute.
The changes kept coming and, as often is the case, resulted in the softening of the defensive line with three tries conceded in the second spell. Blackadder should be forgiving of this, given the emphatic win.
Now for the Hurricanes in the final round in Christchurch next Saturday. There will be plenty riding on it for both sides. The Crusaders are up for it.
85 (Johnny McNicholl 3, Ryan Crotty 2, Codie Taylor 2, Sam Whitelock, Scott Barrett, Alex Hodgman, Nemani Nadolo, Pete Samu, Matt Todd tries; Richie Mo’unga 7 con, Nadolo 3 con) 26 (Nic Stirzaker, Reece Hodge, Culum Retallick, Sefa Naivalu tries; Jack Debreczeni 3 con) HT: 43-7. Queensland capital with a swagger in their step.
Not this lot. Rennie won’t tolerate it. Even co-captain Sam Cane struggled to sing praises in the post-game interview.
The Highlanders in Dunedin present another big challenge next Saturday night, and after titles in 2012 and 2013, the Chiefs know the hard work is not yet done.
‘‘We’re happy we got five points,’’ Rennie said.
‘‘But we’ve kept it in perspective. It’s a game where, if we’d been really clinical, we could’ve probably got another 20 points.’’
Those opportunities came despite the Chiefs living off an inferior possession split, and just showed how lethal they can be attacking from deep and scoring off just a couple of phases.
‘‘It’s just a decision-making thing, and to be honest, if you’re footwork’s good then you get an opportunity to get in behind tacklers and keep it alive. If you run straight into people and get dominant-tackled then it’s hard to do that,’’ Rennie said.
‘‘Everyone’s probably aware of the type of game we play, and if we get things going we can be pretty lethal.’’
An Andrew Horrell head knock was the only medical concern out of the game, and such was the first half effort, Cane was afforded the luxury of sitting out the second spell, with Liam Messam making a seamless transition back to 15s after missing out on Olympics sevens selection.