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The jaw-dropping Crusaders stat that favours Robertson's All Black ambitions

Leicester-bound Jordan Taufua celebrates winning the Super Rugby final. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

As New Zealand grows ever closer to finding out who will be the next All Blacks coach, broadcaster Scotty Stevenson revealed a stat last week that lays heavily in favour of hopeful Scott Robertson. 

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Amazingly, Robertson’s current team the Crusaders have not conceded a try from a lineout drive in three years, spanning 54 games. The former All Black has led the Crusaders to three consecutive Super Rugby titles, and a stat like this puts him in pole position to take over from Steve Hansen, particularly if set piece coach Jason Ryan follows him. 

That is a hugely impressive stat, which many people on social media agree with. Some have queried how many penalties the champions give away in their own half, which may skew the stat, but Stevenson pointed out that the Crusaders actually gave away the most penalties per match last season. 

This equally begs the question how many times the team from Canterbury gave away a penalty when their opponents came close to scoring. Even taking this into consideration, this stat is nonetheless a testament to the job that Robertson and Ryan have done with their side. 

Former England flyhalf and columnist Stuart Barnes also raised the point that this is because they “Play in a competition that doesn’t focus on the catch and drive.”

This is a valid point, and a reminder of the eternal stylistic differences between northern and southern hemisphere rugby. It is simply unthinkable for even the strongest sides in Europe to replicate a stat comparable to the Crusaders, in what is a forward-orientated brand of rugby. 

However, it has also been noted that any team facing South African opposition will have to contend with the driving maul. And while there may be a different emphasis in Super Rugby to Europe, this is a breathtaking example of how great a force the Crusaders have been over the past three years. 

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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