Crusaders’ stocks sink like 1987 all over again
Super Rugby analysis
Anyone who has seen the photos of devastated share brokers staring at their computer screens after the 1987 stock market crash may have sat bolt upright when footage of Crusaders coach Rob Penney flashed up on their TV sets on Saturday night.
Penney, having watched his team lose to the Highlanders in Dunedin, was pictured sitting alone in the coach's box at Forsyth Barr Stadium minutes after the Crusaders had crashed to their ninth defeat of the Super Rugby Pacific season.
Like the deflated traders who watched the market take a bath almost 37 years ago, Penney appeared to be in no mood for idle chit-chat as he contemplated his team’s 2-9 record.
Being a professional rugby coach must, at times, be like being strapped to a wild dragon.
At least the players can play a part in trying to control their own destiny. They, too, provide their share of entertainment when they unleash their emotions.
Hurricanes halfback TJ Perenara rarely disappoints, at times giving the impression he has just walked off a Mad Max movie set; Perenara was understandably pumped when he scored a try against the Blues at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday afternoon.
Yet it was the Blues who prevailed, bounding to the top of the competition log with three games to be played against the Highlanders, Crusaders and Chiefs.
When the final whistle blew at Eden Park, the Blues players’ celebrations emphasised how much it meant to win the top-of-the-table clash.
Having attracted a crowd of around 26,000 the Blues have done their bit to shift the water cooler conversations in their region away from the fortunes of the Warriors in the NRL. The question, now, is can the Blues hold their nerve?
1. Clarke Dermody and the Highlanders' moment of glory
On the subject of stress, Highlanders coach
Dermody has experienced plenty since he started in the role as a replacement for Tony Brown at the start of last season.
After 19 consecutive losses against the other four New Zealand teams, the Highlanders finally broke that sequence thanks to the victory over the Crusaders.
Former All Blacks prop Dermody must have felt like a 100kg barbell had been lifted off his shoulders when the deal was finally done.
The Highlanders may have only scored two tries to the Crusaders’ four, but they caned the visitors for their lack of discipline and their defence was excellent.
If the penalties were within range of the sticks, Highlanders captain Ethan de Groot, like a student hailing a taxi in the small hours, was only too happy to poke a finger at the goal posts and tell the referee they were going to call for the kicking tee.
Young No 10 Cameron Millar did the rest, kicking six penalties as well as two conversions.
Being stuck at the bottom of the South Island, with a smaller base of players to choose from, has always created challenges for the Dunedin-based franchise.
The victory over the Crusaders was one to savour.
Match report: 2. Anyone betting against a Blues versus Hurricanes final?
Such a statement might make folks in Chiefs stand-up and bellow with outrage. No-one is saying their team is spent.
It’s just that after watching the excellent game at Eden Park, which was almost as fast and intense as a test match, the Blues and Hurricanes are shaping as true contenders for the title.
The disruptions began for the Hurricanes before the big party even started. Tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax, centre Billy Proctor and lock Caleb Delany were late withdrawals because of injury.
If they had started would they have changed the outcome? Maybe.
The Blues provided a range of talking points. Two obvious ones were their powerful forwards, and the way they carried around the ruck edges, and the form of No 10 Harry Plummer.
Plummer was outstanding. With Beauden Barrett in Japan and Stephen Perofeta injured, Plummer has flourished.
Blues 31 Hurricanes 27
Match report:
Highlanders 32 Crusaders29
3. The setbacks continue for Crusaders captain Scott Barrett
Having announced on Wednesday that Barrett would start against the Highlanders, the Crusaders then declared on gameday that he was scratched.
The withdrawal of Barrett, who was forced to retire from the game against the Reds the previous weekend, was significant.
While another All Black, hooker Codie Taylor, put in a tremendous shift in his first game of the year in Dunedin, the absence of Barrett couldn't be understated.
Penney later told Sky Sport he was unlikely to play the Brumbies in Canberra next Saturday (see sidebar, below).
4. The Chiefs take it to Moana Pasifika on the unfamiliar surrounds of their ‘home ground’
The Chiefs, having fielded a revamped line-up that didn't involve key playmaker Damian McKenzie (concussion), rumbled over Moana Pasifika with ease at their "home ground“of Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on Friday night.
Ahead 12-0 at halftime the Chiefs were never in doubt of letting this game, which wasn't the most memorable of fixtures, slip out of their control. It was Moana Pasifika's first outing at the venue this season.
Next up for the Chiefs are the Rebels in Melbourne. They can’t afford to sleepwalk into that one. If they do they might wakeup and discover they have waddled into a minefield. The Rebels deserve respect.
Chiefs 43 Moana Pasifika 7
Match report: 5. Spare a thought for Moana Pasifika
After the loss to the Chiefs, Moana Pasifika coach Tana Umaga acknowledged his side loses home advantage when forced to host games across a variety of venues.
The game on Friday evening was their sixth “home” game, if you include the Magic Round game against the Fijian Drua in Melbourne on March 2. They have also hosted games in Hamilton, at Eden Park in Auckland, Tonga and Whangārei.
“It’s difficult. You get no advantage,” Umaga said.
He makes a fair point. And it can't help when they get such a small crowd to watch, as was the case for the game against the Chiefs.
Now for slightly brighter. Having posted three wins this year, Moana Pasifika are on 14 points (same as the Crusaders) and still within reach of the playoffs.
The bad news is that only one of those games will be at home, at Mt Smart. That is the penultimate round-robin game against the Waratahs on May 25.