Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Crusaders player ratings vs Hurricanes | Super Rugby Pacific

Will Jordan. (Photo by Martin Hunter/Photosport)

The Crusaders commenced their Super Rugby Pacific tournament with a 42–32 victory over the Hurricanes at a crowdless Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday night.

ADVERTISEMENT

Neither side played with the home town advantage yet it was the 2021 Super Rugby champions striking early through two impressive tries to the talented locomotive Leicester Fainga’anuku. However, they were lucky to go into the sheds 15-13 up as the men from the capital dominated the back end of the first half.

The second half was a similar affair with the Crusaders taking their opportunities early and appeared to have done enough to seal the result with Fainga’anuku again scoring but the Hurricanes came to play for the full 80 and toiled away for to take the eventual 10-point loss.

Video Spacer

Who will be crowned champions of the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific season?

Video Spacer

Who will be crowned champions of the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific season?

This is how the Crusaders rated:

1. Joe Moody – 7.5/10
A superb defensive effort coupled with a professional output at the set-piece. Showing no signs of his form of seasons past abating.

2. Brodie McAlister – 8
Played with a blend of what we have come to expect from a modern-day hooker, yet still managed to stir up memories of an old-fashioned South Island tight forward at the same time. Impressive work rate on both sides of the ball – exhaustive performance.

3. Oli Jager – 6.5
Impressed with his ball-handling skills and work as a distributor from the pod to the pocket. Was guilty of a couple of infringements that put pressure back onto his teammates.

4. Scott Barrett – 7
A solid Scott Barrett performance. If there is any issue, it is more with the captaincy in the first half as at one stage his side were leading the penalty count 6-1. His side were good, but the Hurricanes were also unlucky. Discipline must improve.

ADVERTISEMENT

5. Samuel Whitelock – 7
Got cooked at the first lineout which was unexpected. Worked his way back into the game quickly and contributed in the usual Sam Whitelock way.

6. Pablo Matera – 7
A very respectable start to his Crusaders career. Work hard on the right edge for much of the match and was staunch in defence. Needed to be more involved on attack, as we’ve become so accustomed to seeing for Los Pumas.

Related

7. Tom Christie – 8.5
An absolute workhorse, clocking up 25 tackles. Managed to slow down much of the Hurricanes ball but what really impressed was his defence and ability to get back up and push the second effort throughout.

8. Cullen Grace – 7
Does so much unheralded work off the ball. Almost plays like a grafting extra lock when required but then balances that with his running and catch pass game. Solid start.

ADVERTISEMENT

9. Bryn Hall – 7.5
How about that pass to Braydon Ennor of the scrum to set up Leicester Fainga’anuku second try down the left flank? Overall managed the game well and didn’t overplay his hand.

10. Fergus Burke – 6
Much to like but much to work on. The good was the gaps he identified and exploited, the bad was his imitation of but a small speed hump in defence. He just put a big target on his back and will need to improve his front-on D rapidly.

11. Leicester Fainga’anuku – 9
An absolute statement game from him. The three tries will be talked about, and rightly so, but he was immense at the try line defence as well. Not a lot to dislike about this performance.

12. David Havili – 6.5
Appeared to get a knock and didn’t really settle into the game. Still showed signs of his quality but appeared hampered by the hit. Better rugby to come.

13. Braydon Ennor – 7.5
A very solid performance on both sides of the ball. Exhausted himself in defence, making 17 tackles, but also managed to pop up at times, picking and driving from the base that caught the Hurricanes out. Intelligent player.

14. George Bridge – 7
Played with limited quality possession and had to operate coming off the back foot and or in limited space. But these efforts frustrated the opposition. Job done.

15. Will Jordan – 7
Probably outplayed Jordie Barrett in the battle of the 15s – but only just. Exciting and dangerous as ever in attack, but a little absent on defence.

Related

Reserves:

16. Shilo Klein – 6
A memorable debut, scoring a try near the final whistle.

17. George Bower – 7.5
Came on for the ‘George Bower Happy Hour’ and appeared to thoroughly enjoy his work tonight. Bulldozing in the scrum, running the wider channels and didn’t miss a beat in defence.

18. Tamaiti Williams – 6.5
Big unit who can move. Imagine the grocery bill! He copped a knock and toiled on. We’ll be seeing plenty more from him in the future.

19. Quinten Strange – 6.5
A fair impact with a few wobbles around the lineout, but balanced out with some quality set piece work as well. Building nicely.

20. Mitch Dunshea – 6
Didn’t see much but looked to up the tempo when he came and on looked for work. What more can you expect from a bench forward?

21. Mitch Drummond – 7
Nabbed a sneaky strip when the Hurricanes were on the attack. A fair show from him.

22. Simon Hickey – 6
Another Crusaders debut and looks like he will be a handy recruit for them. A steady set of eyes to rely upon.

23. Sevu Reece – 7
Worked hard off the ball and was solid under the high ball. As with George Bridge, it would have been good to see him in some more space. A solid start.

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Borthwick, it's time to own up – Andy Goode Borthwick, it's time to own up – Andy Goode
Search