Pressure quickly on Crusaders
Robert van Royen
Any other week all eyes would be on the capital and the tasty New Zealand derby between the Hurricanes and Blues.
However, cast your eyes across the round-three fixtures and it’s hard to go past the clash between the Fijian Drua and reigning champion Crusaders, two of just three teams yet to bag a win.
That’s the key point. The Crusaders, winners of seven titles in as many years, are staring down the prospect of their first 0-3 start to a season since the inaugural Super Rugby season in 1996.
1. Crusaders under the cosh
You get the feeling the Crusaders would probably rather play anywhere but steamy Lautoka tomorrow. For starters, an afternoon match in Fiji is not conducive to tidying up their clunky attack and the handling errors that have blighted their game.
Then there’s the different beast that the Drua are at home, where they run opponents ragged and recorded a famous win against the Crusaders in the corresponding fixture a year ago.
Indeed, if the Crusaders were to cop the flamboyant Drua now, they’d much rather it was on a fresh autumn night in Christchurch.
“You go to Fiji on holiday – 1.30 in the afternoon, normally you are seeking shade and probably having a nap,’’ Crusaders coach Rob Penney said this week. “But we will be kicking a rugby ball off. It will be very challenging.”
2. No Jordie for crunch derby
These are the games you want your best players lacing up the boots for, especially when you’ve lost four of the last five games against the Blues.
But midfielder Jordie Barrett will do no such thing when the Hurricanes host the Blues tomorrow night, and he’ll also miss next Friday night’s game against the Crusaders in Christchurch due to suspension.
Barrett copped a yellow card – it was later upgraded to red and he was suspended for three weeks – for a high shot against the Reds last week, meaning Riley Higgins will don the No 12 jersey tomorrow.
There’s a sense of déjà vu around this fixture, given the sides clashed in round three last year after the Hurricanes beat a couple of Australian sides.
3. Will the next Australian side stand up?
Remember when the Reds defended like a pack of dogs and snapped the Chiefs’ 10-match winning run last season?
Judging by the way the Chiefs have started this year’s competition, it’s hard to envision a repeat in Brisbane tomorrow night.
But, pipped by the Hurricanes in golden point last week, chances are they will put up a better fight than Australia’s supposedly best team did a week ago.
That would be the Brumbies, embarrassed 46-12 by the Chiefs in Melbourne, leading to suggestions that they are perhaps not so great after all.
Already the Waratahs have rocked the Crusaders. Now, let’s see if the Reds can deliver a statement against a team set to roll out talented young Taranaki No 10 Josh Jacomb off the bench.
4. Highlanders on notice
Recent lean years mean there’s little chance the Highlanders head into any week taking their opponents lightly.
However, if there was any chance of them doing so ahead of tonight’s match against the Waratahs in Sydney, the home side’s big win over the Crusaders last week extinguished that.
Having lost 17 straight New Zealand derbies over almost three years, these are the games the Highlanders simply must win.
Beaten 21-20 by the Waratahs across the ditch in round nine last year, the Highlanders have looked a much sharper team with ball in hand through two weeks this year, particularly with new recruits Jacob Ratu-maitavuki-Kneepkens and Timoci Tavatavanawai adding some desperately needed X-factor.
But it’s up front where they will have to turn up against the Waratahs, whose big pack, led by lock Jed Holloway, knocked the Crusaders off their stride.
5. Moana on the rise
The early signs sure are promising under new Moana Pasifika head coach Tana Umaga.
And, having gone down to the Highlanders and beaten the Drua to start their year, they will fancy their chances of toppling the Rebels in Hamilton tonight.
Should they dispatch the Melbourne-based Rebels, Moana Pasifika will already have doubled their win tally (1) from a year ago.