Latest loss puts Crusaders in ‘twilight zone’
George Bower insists the Crusaders can still “100% make the top eight’’ as the struggling Super Rugby Pacific champions enter what coach Rob Penney terms “the twilight zone’’.
The Crusaders’ eighth loss of the season against the Reds on Saturday has seen them mired in 10th place - four points behind the eighth-ranked Fijian Drua.
Bower admits each of their last four games – starting with next Saturday’s southern derby in Dunedin – will now “be a final’’. But the All Blacks prop is still confident the casualty-plagued Crusaders can still qualify even if they lose captain Scott Barrett and flanker Ethan Blackadder from an ever-depleted pack.
Barrett left Apollo Projects Stadium with a lower back injury in the 15th minute of the 33-28 defeat,while Blackadder didn’t suit up after a match-eve thigh strain.
Bower conceded Barrett’s early departure was a big blow because the skipper “adds a lot of experience and grunt”.
“When you lose someone like that, the boys can be ‘where can we go to?’, but we’ve got good instructions and plans around it, and just had to find our way and look to the next guy.”
Bower said Barrett and Blackadder are “two big leadership in our forward pack, but I know there’s a lot of boys who have been training just as hard as them who can come in and fill those roles”.
Penney lost four forwards before or during the Reds clash with hooker Brodie McAlister limping off with a hamstring twinge and Christian Lio-Willie called off for a mandatory concussion check after a mouthguard alert.
He felt the loss of “three power forward compromised some of our abilities”, noting: “I don’t want to put the onus too much on Scoot [Barrett], but he’s such an important member of the group ... and unfortunately we lost him early and we weren’t able to control what was happening because we weren’t dominant enough up front like we were last week [against the Rebels].”
The error-rate that crept in was “the most frustrating thing” for Penney. “Probably two or three of those errors turned into seven-pointers.”
Penney has stoically remained upbeat most of the season despite the Crusaders’ record run of defeats, but he was demonstrably downcast after the Reds achieved their first win in Christchurch in 25 years.
It’s now squeaky backside time for the Crusaders who face the Highlanders in Dunedin, the Brumbies in Canberra and the Blues and Moana Pasifika in Christchurch in their run-in.
“It’s not all over. We’ve just make it harder for ourselves potentially,’’ said Penney who admitted a playoff place was “tantalising close, but it’s also tantalisingly a way off.
“So, we’re in that twilight zone of do we believe we can there? I hope so. Because we’ve got the personnel to get us there. “Now we just have to perform.’’ Bower said “the younger boys aren’t used’’ to a Super Rugby slump and it was up to him and other older heads to get around them and say “right, these things happen, these challenges are for growth and development.”
“I’ve still got 100% belief in our boys and our plan and our structure, but we have to turn it around this week, and we have to treat each week like a final, that’s the mentality.
“We can’t look too far ahead, we’ve got to focus on each week, each day and prepare like it is pretty much our last chance.”
“We have to treat each week like a final.’’
George Bower, Crusaders prop