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Crusaders make a statement in pre-season dismantling of Hurricanes

(Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

Christopher Reive / NZ Herald

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With Super Rugby starting at the end of the month, plenty of questions will be raised over the coming weeks as the teams grow accustomed to playing on hard, dry surfaces in the heat of summer.

None of those early questions will be directed towards whether the new-look Crusaders can cope with the loss of veteran players.

The reigning champions provided plenty of early indications they’ll be more than ready to compete for an unprecedented fourth title in a row, with a 42-19 demolition of the Hurricanes in Ashburton on Saturday afternoon.

The Crusaders were slow out of the blocks. A sluggish start saw the Hurricanes break out to a 10-0 lead through tries to loose forward Du’Plessis Kirifi and midfielder Vince Aso.

Soon after Aso’s try, Crusaders midfielder Brayden Ennor burst through a couple of attempted tackles to scoot away for a try of his own, sparking the Crusaders attack.

Continue reading below…

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There was plenty of free-running football on display, which will likely be the case in the coming months as teams look to tired one another out in the heat.

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The opening 10 minutes were really all the Hurricanes had to write home about, as they faced a 28-12 deficit at half-time.

Both sides fielding fresh teams for the second half didn’t change things, although the Hurricanes did stem the flow from the opening 19 minutes of the half.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7evKFPAj4n/

After winger Fa’asiu Fuatai crashed over for the Crusaders in the 59th minute, the lead was near insurmountable. A late try to Hurricanes new recruit Kobus van Wyk gave the Hurricanes a faint hope, but the Crusaders proved to be too good, with a try to Sione Havili at the buzzer sealing an emphatic win.

Despite the result, there were some positives to take out of it for the Hurricanes. Vaea Fifita was damaging on defence in a first-half cameo, while the forward pack showed a solid display and their defence of the lineout drive was strong.

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The Crusaders will have another pre-season hit out next week, travelling to Wanaka to face the highlanders, while the Hurricanes face the Blues next week.

This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and is republished with permission.

Schalk Brits spoke to RugbyPass about his experiences bringing the William Webb Ellis trophy back to South Africa:

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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