Crusaders primed to end losing run away to Bulls
Seeking the counsel of Wyatt Crockett wouldn’t be a bad place to start for any Crusaders players wanting to get their heads around the idea of what it must be like to beat the Bulls in Pretoria.
Loosehead prop Crockett, who will make his 179th Super Rugby appearance when the Crusaders are rolled out at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday morning (NZT), is the only surviving member of the team that beat the Bulls 54-19 on their own dirt in 2008.
Crockett was listed on the bench that sunny day, while current assistant backs coach Leon MacDonald, started at fullback.
For the rest of the Crusaders team, the experiences either involve losses or nothing at all.
Five stumbles to the Bulls at altitude in South Africa have followed over the last nine years; four in Pretoria, as well as the defeat in the semifinal at Orlando Stadium in Soweto in 2010.
By anyone’s standards it’s not a flash record for a glamour New Zealand team that has often been stacked with All Blacks.
Victory against the Bulls will ensure the Crusaders, unbeaten in all nine games to date, retain hopes of eclipsing the 2002 Crusaders team’s record of 13 consecutive victories and also prove they have the fortitude to not get side-tracked by unwanted distractions.
Losing lock and captain Sam Whitelock because of suspension, and No 8 Kieran Read with a fractured thumb, has gouged a significant hole out of the side’s leadership crew.
Between them Read and Whitelock have made 181 test appearances for the All Blacks, and possess the hard-nosed mentality so handy for combating the bulky Bulls forwards.
Read possessed the knack of being able to hit top gear against the Bulls; now he has returned to New Zealand to spend six weeks recovering from surgery to his right hand.
The saga involving Whetu Douglas, who originally confirmed he would join the squad for their next games against the Hurricanes and Chiefs in Christchurch and Suva but later withdrew because of family reasons, will have no bearing on what happens in Pretoria but it added to a busy week for management.
Unlike the Cheetahs, who looked to offload and create line breaks during their 48-21 loss to the Crusaders in Bloemfontein last weekend, Crusaders coach Scott Robertson accepts the Bulls will take a more direct line.
‘‘It will be more of a physical contest, they don’t throw the ball around with the style of the Cheetahs but they are a passionate team with a lot of history, especially against the Crusaders,’’ Robertson said.
Bulls coach Nollis Marais hasn’t hung his game plan out for everyone to read, but was happy to tell everyone he won’t be veering off into unexpected territory when he opens his playbook.
‘‘You can’t run it from everywhere. You have to be tactically very good against them,’’ Marais said. ‘‘We have got certain plans in place that we think tactically will suit us.’’
Robertson will stick with the formula that has been so successful for his mob, giving his players permission to offload and to be prepared to sting the Bulls if they can exploit mismatches or space behind the defensive line.
Marais said he will be having none of that, even without Springboks first five-eighth Handre Pollard who is unavailable for several months because of an ankle injury.
The contrast in styles will be evident. The Crusaders have scored 51 tries this season, with left wing George Bridge ranked third in the competition with his tally of eight.
Compare this to the Bulls’ paltry figure of 19.
‘‘If you run the ball from anywhere and you’re not accurate, and you lose the ball in your own 22, they will punish you very quickly,’’ Marais said.
‘‘We know exactly what we want to do.’’