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Ten the magic number for Crusaders after annihilation of Bulls

Crusaders’ scintillating Super Rugby form continued as they made it 10 wins from as many matches to start the season with Saturday’s 62-24 hammering of Bulls.

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The dominant New Zealand outfit have now scored at least 40 points in each of their past six outings, and this latest romp sets them up perfectly for a mouth-watering clash at home to Hurricanes next weekend.

Crusaders made a typically fast start at Loftus Versfeld Stadium and were 14-0 up thanks to Pete Samu and Tim Bateman.

Further first-half tries from Scott Barrett and Seta Tamanivalu – either side of Jack Goodhue’s first Super Rugby score – had Crusaders in complete control, 31-3 to the good at the interval.

And the second period followed much the same pattern as the first, David Havili and Richie Mo’unga next to cross the whitewash before Goodhue went over for his second.

The final half an hour saw the match become ever more stretched, Bulls showing some signs of fight with Jesse Kriel, Jamba Ulengo and Jan Serfontein taking advantage of the extra space on offer, but Bulls’ defence was similarly ragged with Andrew Makalio and Mitchell Hunt making it 10 tries to go with the Crusaders’ 10th successive win.

Meanwhile, Curwin Bosch contributed 20 points as Sharks ran out comfortable 37-12 winners over Western Force.

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Nickers 27 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.

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