Northern Edition

Select Edition

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

Hurricanes player ratings vs the Crusaders | Super Rugby Aotearoa

(Photo by Masanori Udagawa/Getty Images)

It was deja vu all over again in Super Rugby Aotearoa as we went to golden point, extra time for the second day running. 27-all at the end of 80 but it was the Crusaders who came out of the extra time blocks, David Havili with a dropped goal after only 1 minute of golden time to seal the game 30-27.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Crusaders have certainly come off the boil and it will encourage all the other teams for the remainder of this tournament. The Hurricanes played heroically but will rue their ineptitude at the line out time ( just over 50% execution) and moments of indiscipline. Again.

Here are the Hurricanes’ ratings.

1. Xavier Numia – 7.5

Video Spacer

The All Blacks share what they eat before playing a test match | Healthspan Elite

Video Spacer

The All Blacks share what they eat before playing a test match | Healthspan Elite

Nice break that led to Laumape try but the pass went astray. The scrum was solid at the Canes put in so well done to the loosehead. Great turnover at 56 to spark attack from Laumape and then moments later made a good gallop that led to a penalty that made it 27-20. Off at 64.

2. Dane Coles – 6.5

He plays like he needs a strait jacket, doesn’t have any regard for his body at the contact area. Good turnovers on Havili 7th minute and at 34 on Jordan. Lineout throwing wasn’t great but at least the scrum worked. Off at 57.

3. Tyrel Lomax – 8

Big presence in the midfield, and an immovable plinth at scrumtime. Capped off a big day at the office with scrum penalty at 50. It was a tribute to both props that they were kept on until 64 minutes and after that the scrum was wobbly and the Crusaders came back.

ADVERTISEMENT

4. James Blackwell – 6.5

Set the try up for Julian Savea with a magic draw and pass at 31 minutes. Top tackler for his team as well. I always feel that with Blackwell and Princep they are at least one line out option short.

5. Isaia Walker-Leawere- 5.5

Off at 51. Not a great day for the lock, tried hard at the lineout but leaked two penalties.

6. Reed Princep – 5.5

Solid but not spectacular as usual with a good tackle count.

7. Ardie Savea – 8.5

ADVERTISEMENT

He just wasn’t going to lose and played with defiance, was destructive at the breakdown and regularly broke down Crusader’s forays. The stats showed he made more turnovers than tackles. Good ploy running off 8 with a steady scrum. Looked like game over at 44 minutes with a leg injury but hopped around on one leg and got another turnovers at 47 and 55. Off at 61 and sadly that seemed to allow the Crusaders back in the match.

8. Devan Flanders – 7

Got turned over at 6 minutes. Had a brave go at stopping Bridge at close range but couldn’t stop the try. Game in defence. Off at 57

9. Luke Campbell – 5

Looked pedestrian at times especially when he took steps from the bottom of the ruck and then a charge down from his box kick at 46 that caused trouble. Off at 67.

10. Ruben Love – 6.5

Great first touch in the first minute as he made 70 metres for his team with some velocity off the mark and an astute kick. Bright touches with a lovely rapier running style.

11. Wes Goosen – 7

Finally got himself in the game for the first time this season. There was some debate about why Goosen was on the left wing and he showed with some nimble footwork off the left foot for his try. He always looked dangerous, well done to him to turn it around.

12. Ngani Laumape – 6

Played angry but in the final wash it didn’t’t serve his team well. First few minutes dropped a ball on attack, helped Bridge over for his try trying to smash him, ran backwards at 13 minutes after getting in the way of a Jordie challenge in the air. Then at 27 minutes powered over after getting the ball on the front foot but a brain explosion with a yellow card on halftime. Some good skill with his kicking and passing in the second half, that may give him some redemption but the best thing would have been to score a match-winning try!

13. Peter Umaga-Jensen – 6

Strong break in the 20th minute but it would have been good to see him run more, like his brother did last week against the Crusaders. Is a sure defender but had a huge challenge keeping Fainga’anuku quiet.

14. Julian Savea – 6

Felt a bit sorry for the penalty he conceded after 14 minutes , the Crusaders player seemed to run at him. Met his match in the air with Bridge. Had some good surges especially when Laumape was off. Off at 72.

15. Jordie Barrett – 6.5

One of the Canes leaders with some physical play but overplayed his hand at times. Put a dent in Cody Taylor after 2 minutes but lost out with the second big run to Douglas. Got away with one at 21 minutes with another ill-advised run, luckily penalty was reversed with a head high tackle from Havili. Even though he’s the form fullback in the competition his errors reminded me of some of the clangers he’s had in a black jersey due to over-confidence and the need to seek contact rather than territory.

Reserves:

16. Asafo Aumua- 6.5 On 57. Enjoyed his physicality.
17. Tevita Mafileo – N/A  On at 64. Packed at loosehead.
18. Alex Fidow – 5 On at 64. Good around the paddock but fans would have been holding their breath at scrum time in the last quarter hour.
19. Scott Scrafton – 6 On at 51. In the wars with a stinger and a cut.
20. Vaea Fifita – N/A On at 61. Invisible which is a shame as the Canes need a loosie who is aerially inclined.
21. du Plessis Kirifi- 6.5 On at 57. Hard as nails and careful not to infringe
22. Cam Roigard – 6 On at 67, did well distributing but had a tendency to creep down the blind by himself.
23. Billy Proctor- N/A On at 72.

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

F
Flankly 1 minute 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?

4 Go to comments
N
Nickers 11 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Very poor understanding of what's going on and 0 ability to read. When I say playing behind the gain line you take this to mean all off-loads and site times we are playing in front of the gain line???


Every time we play a lot of rugby behind the gain line (for clarity, meaning trying to build an attack and use width without front foot ball 5m+ behind the most recent breakdown) we go backwards and turn the ball over in some way. Every time a player is tackled behind the most recent breakdown you need more and more people to clear out because your forwards have to go back around the corner, whereas opposition players can keep moving forward. Eventually you run out of either players to clear out or players to pass to and the result in a big net loss of territory and often a turnover. You may have witnessed that 20+ times in the game against England. This is a particularly dumb idea inside your own 40m which is where, for some reason, we are most likely to employ it.


The very best ABs teams never built an identity around attacking from poor positions. The DC era team was known for being the team that kicked the most. To engineer field position and apply pressure, and create broken play to counter attack. This current team is not differentiating between when a defence has lost it's structure and there are opportunities, and when they are completely set and there is nothing on. The reason they are going for 30 minute + periods in every game without scoring a single point, even against Japan and a poor Australian team, is because they are playing most of their rugby on the back foot in the wrong half.

43 Go to comments
N
Nickers 40 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.

43 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea
Search