Northern Edition

Select Edition

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

Former Wallaby encourages fans to ‘enjoy’ Crusaders’ winless run

Scott Barrett reacts after Crusaders' loss to the Waratahs (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Former Wallaby Cameron Shepherd has encouraged Super Rugby Pacific fans to “enjoy” the Crusaders’ winless start to the season with the defending champions ranked second-last on the ladder.

ADVERTISEMENT

For the first time since the inaugural Super Rugby season in 1996, the Crusaders have started a season with three defeats from as many starts.

The reigning competition champions started their season with a tough loss on the road away to New Zealand rivals the Chiefs before falling to the NSW Waratahs 37-24 in a stunning Super Round upset at Melbourne’s AAMI Park.

Video Spacer

Video Spacer

But their loss to the Fijian Drua in Round Three sees them anchored towards the bottom of the ladder with the Christchurch-based franchise equal on competition points with the Western Force.

While the Force currently sit in last place, the Crusaders are only one spot above them due to their slightly better points differential which still reads -27 after the opening three rounds.

“Poor performance (in Round One) and then you come out, you do a huge comeback against the Force and then win on the weekend against a Moana Pasifika team that was coming off a win,” Cameron Shepherd initially said of the Melbourne Rebels on Stan Sports’ Rugby Heaven.

“Great to see the Crusaders down the bottom. If the Western Force won on the weekend they would’ve been in 11th and the Crusaders would’ve been 12th.

ADVERTISEMENT

“But then you look at that logjam in the middle and I think Sera you’d agree, this weekend really is going to separate and we’re going to start seeing some real differences within the group.

“But at the moment, it sort of is anyone’s tournament.”

Related

With new coach Rob Penney at the helm, the Crusaders have had three different halfbacks start in the No. 9 jersey already this season and there has been some change at first-five as well.

The Crusaders no longer have the likes of Richie Mo’unga, Sam Whitelock or Leicester Fainga’anuku to call upon as they sail through practically uncharted waters this season.

ADVERTISEMENT

The last time the Crusaders started 0-3, one of Rugby Heaven’s pundits this week, Sera Naiqama, was only one. Host Michael Atkinson was about eight years of age.

“We might not get this chance again so we’ve got to enjoy it as much as we can,” Shepherd added with a smile.

But as they look to turn their season around, the Crusaders have their backs up against the ropes as they prepare to run through a Super Rugby gauntlet over the next few weeks.

The Crusaders will host the Hurricanes in Christchurch in Round Four before then facing the Blues in Auckland and the Chiefs back at home.

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

2 Comments
C
Cheers 281 days ago

Never heard of Cameron Shepherd, But I do enjoy the absolute S&^tshow the Wallabies are.

Load More Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

T
Tom 1 hour ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

2 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Does the next Wallabies coach have to be an Australian? Does the next Wallabies coach have to be an Australian?
Search