Robertson laments lack of composure in narrow win
Sam Whitelock’s men turned over a new page in Crusaders history with a 17-13 win over the Brumbies, but at times it was so ugly you didn’t know where to look in Christchurch last night.
The anxiety levels among the 13,000 spectators at AMI Stadium, and in the Crusaders’ coaching box, were immense as the home side, having led 12-3 at halftime, lost their way as their under-cooked All Blacks’ legs began to tire, the inevitable substitutions resulted in combinations being chopped and the Brumbies launched raid after raid.
New coach Scott Robertson and fresh skipper Whitelock, who was replaced in the second half as the All Blacks minutes are ‘‘managed’’ in the opening rounds, may have shared a quiet post-match thirst quencher in the knowledge they were fortunate to escape with a victory; they will also be quick to remind their boys they can expect to be in for a hell of a fight when they meet the Highlanders in Dunedin next weekend.
Robertson might have to sweat on the fitness of right wing Seta Tamanivalu, who scored a try on debut for his new club, if he doesn’t recover from the tight hamstring that forced him off in the second half but the coach was optimistic that openside flanker Matt Todd, who was a late withdrawal because he required an operation on Friday to clear-up a leg infection, would be available.
‘‘He has had an operation and it’s OK now,’’ Robertson said in reference to Todd. ‘‘He will be fine for next week. He wasn’t going to play today after that operation, but if it was a couple of days earlier he could have. It was a fine line.’’
Given they hadn’t won a firstround game in Christchurch since 2010, the relief at securing a win will be immense for the Crusaders; their error-count skyrocketed in the final 40 minutes, Richie Mo’unga missed a penalty that would have given his side a seven-point buffer inside the final 10 minutes and tactical kicking seemed a skill too difficult to master.
Robertson acknowledged his side may have got too excited, given their stats sheet was swollen with big possession and territory numbers early in the game.
‘‘Once we scored that first try to [Tamanivalu], I think we expected it to carry on like that. We pushed a lot of passes and we created so many opportunities to score and pressure to put into points – but we just didn’t,’’ he said. ‘‘We saw that one [the missed penalty] out in the front by Richie. The young fellow maybe thought it was a ‘gimmie’, he will learn from that.’’
After the massacre we witnessed in the earlier game played in Tokyo, where an under-strength Hurricanes side ragdolled the Sunwolves with ridiculous ease, you could say Sanzaar needed a decent Super Rugby game to return a shred of credibility to its competition. At least this one was close. This effort in the Garden City was miles away from the Canes’ jaunt in Japan, and the Brumbies really played their part with their suffocating defence, despite being swamped in terms of possession and territory in the first spell.
The Crusaders, watched by former coach Robbie Deans in the stand, experienced a bumpy start even before the game began, with Pete Samu named as a late replacement for Todd.
There were heaps of turbulent moments during the game, too, although the Crusaders scored the only two tries in the first half, to Tamanivalu and Whetu Douglas.