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Warren Gatland's Chiefs shock Super Rugby champs Crusaders

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British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland continued to make a bold impression in Super Rugby on Saturday as he guided the Chiefs to a 25-15 win over three-time defending champions, the Crusaders.

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The match pitted Gatland against Crusaders coach Scott Robertson, an applicant for the All Blacks head coaching role last year and a man many New Zealanders believed should have been given the job.

The Crusaders made an explosive beginning with two tries inside the first 15 minutes to All Blacks winger Sevu Reece, and looked set to dominate the game.

Playing with little possession, the unbeaten Chiefs managed to score a try of their own and to go to halftime only four points down at 12-8.

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They seized the lead with another try only three minutes into the second spell which gave them the lead for the first time.

The Crusaders levelled the scores with a penalty but the Chiefs pulled away again with a try to winger Sean Wainui, and bravely held out waves of Crusaders attacks.

A penalty to flyhalf Aaron Cruden in the 78th minute meant the Crusaders had to score twice to win and they weren’t up to the task.

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Chiefs Gatland
Ian Foster and Warren Gatland shake hands prior to the World Cup bronze final between New Zealand and Wales. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

The Crusaders have only lost two of their last 16 derby matches against New Zealand teams and both of those were to the Chiefs, following a loss in Suva last year.

“The thing you notice about these derbies and these matches that have a bit riding on them is that they’re personal,” said Chiefs captain Sam Cane after a willing second round encounter.

“They’re physical, they’re brutal and there were some key moments in that game that could have gone either way. But there were some big defensive efforts tonight and we just stuck at it.”

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One of the biggest defensive efforts came from Cane himself who made many crucial tackles and forced turnovers.

Cruden was again a steadying influence on the Chiefs, as was All Blacks fullback Damian McKenzie who played his first match of the season and acted as a second playmaker.

AAP

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Flankly 1 hour 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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