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Crusaders begin with a win, Hurricanes leave it late

The Crusaders celebrate a Manasa Mataele try

Super Rugby champions the Crusaders kicked off their 2019 campaign with a win as they edged past the Blues 24-22 on Saturday.

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The Crusaders did not have it all their own way away from home, but a double from Manasa Mataele and a pair of penalty tries saw them safe.

Otere Black’s penalty opened the scoring, yet the visitors were in control at the break as Mataele went over and a second try was awarded following a lineout drive.

The Blues rallied after the restart and Akira Ioane and Ofa Tu’ungafasi turned the game on its head until the Crusaders responded again, with Mataele going through before the second penalty try.

The hosts kept pushing and Augustine Pulu brought them back within reach of victory, only for Harry Plummer to waste two late kicks as the Crusaders held on.

Meanwhile, in the absence of star man Beauden Barrett, the Hurricanes came through a similarly dramatic finale to steal a 20-19 victory at the Waratahs.

Bernard Foley kicked four first-half penalties to give the Australian outfit the lead at the interval, with Jordie Barrett’s kicks and an Ardie Savea try narrowing the deficit to just two points.

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The Waratahs remained on top as the second half began and crossed for the first time as Curtis Rona went over out wide.

But Jordie Barrett responded again and, although the Hurricanes saw the officials twice rule against them on apparent tries, Du’Plessis Kirifi finally burst through to put the visitors in front five minutes from time.

There was still room for further drama, though, and Foley, so clinical throughout, missed a 78th-minute penalty in front of the posts to cost his side.

The Sharks also got a first win of the year as they thrashed the Sunwolves 45-10 in Singapore.

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The Sunwolves scored all of their points – including Shane Gates’ try – in the opening 15 minutes, before the away side took complete control.

Armand van der Merwe got a brace, with Daniel du Preez, Sibusiso Nkosi, Makazole Mapimpi and Jeremy Ward all also contributing tries.

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Nickers 34 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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