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Can anyone stop the Crusaders from going back-to-back?

Under head coach Scott Robertson, the Crusaders have never lost at home.

The reigning champions are showing no signs of slowing down, after blowing away the Highlanders, one of only two teams to beat them this year, 45-22 in the second Southern Derby last weekend.

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That win confirmed the road to Super Rugby glory goes through Christchurch one way or another. It will take someone to beat them at home in the playoffs which no side has done yet – they are 7-0 at home this season with one match to play against the old rival Blues. Looking back further they are 22-2 at home since the beginning of 2016, haven’t lost there in nearly two years and haven’t yet under Scott Robertson.

The Crusaders coaching staff have got this side conditioned for relentless play. It’s the way they have finished games this season that has put other teams to the sword. They have conceded only four tries in the last twenty minutes across 15 games this year while banking 19 at the other end. Teams simply cannot last with this side.

The Hurricanes, who beat them 29-19 in Wellington, could only muster a lone penalty goal in the second half of that game. The Highlanders managed two penalty goals in the last half hour to preserve their 25-17 win. Remember the Waratahs? Up 29-0 after 30 minutes, couldn’t score a point for the next 50.

What gives them the edge to close out so efficiently?

They have used 30 different players off the bench this season, the only real constant being the backup halves pairing of Mitch Drummond and Mitch Hunt. Strike weapon Manasa Mataele has also been a regular, which allows the side to re-shuffle into a power line up for closing games. Seta Tamanivalu will move into the centres to partner either Crotty or Goodhue, bringing the opportunistic predator Mataele onto the wing. His strike rate on a per eighty-minute basis is one a game, ranking him in the top five of wingers.

The depth in the tight five gives the Crusaders quality impact from the bench. Wyatt Crockett has been a regular on the pine, along with another All Black in Luke Romano. Unheralded players like Andrew Makalio, Chris King and Ben Funnell have been able to come on and perform a job.

Some of the Crusaders best defenders are relatively unknown players – Ethan Blackadder, Ben Funnel, Billy Harmon, Heiden Bedwell-Curtis, Tom Sanders. These guys eat up runners with tackle success rates over 90%. All of whom have come off the bench at some point, in-and-around stars like Pete Samu, Sam Whitelock, Jordan Taufua, Matt Todd and Scott Barrett. With Kieran Read back, the bench will only become more reliable.

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The team’s backs are full of players with high rugby IQ’s. Byrn Hall can’t get a look in for the All Blacks but has played a crucial role, especially in wet weather games. Richie Mo’unga stock is rising but still couldn’t get a start in the French series. The midfielders Crotty and Goodhue know how to exploit outside space and run damaging support lines. Their wingers are spoiled with the rewards. Would any other team seriously consider having George Bridge on their left wing? His play has been outstanding and proves that physical dominance isn’t everything.

Smart decision-making, understanding situational rugby, a commitment to defence, unbelievable conditioning and fast ball movement are cornerstones of this Crusaders outfit.

There is only one team that arguably could mount a credible challenge to the Crusaders – the Hurricanes. They share the season’s ledger 1-1, the same as last year. The Hurricanes were the last team to beat them at home, in July 2016 before they made their own title run and were the only team to beat them last year, spoiling their perfect record. Last year, a Crusaders-Hurricanes final was one half of rugby away if not for a second-half collapse in Johannesburg.

The wet weather game in Christchurch early this year exposed the Hurricanes lack of game management. They did not play to the conditions and were blasted by the coaches for it. They need to heed the lessons of that match to be any chance. The best hope is to meet them on a dry track on a cool winters night.

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With the Hurricanes likely to finish 4th after this weekend, they will need some help from below them to avoid playing in Christchurch before the final. They will need either the 2nd seed Waratahs or 3rd seed Lions/Jaguares to lose otherwise a semi-final awaits.

That is, of course, they get past the fighting Chiefs who have scrapped their way into the finals on the back of a testing season. The intensity of that quarterfinal match will prepare the winner well for a Crusaders challenge.

After beating the Lions on their home turf for the 2017 championship, another brace of back-to-back titles is for the taking. The Crusaders have proven in the past that when it rains, it pours – success fuels them on to more success.

This new Crusaders era under Scott Robertson is perfectly placed to become another dynasty – unless the Hurricanes can stop them.

In other news:

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J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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