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'We're going to start losing games': Crusaders star's warning to his own side ahead of Hurricanes clash

(Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)

Crusaders halfback Bryn Hall has issued his side with a warning to improve their discipline ahead of their clash with the Hurricanes in Christchurch on Sunday.

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Hall was part of the Crusaders side that defeated the Highlanders 26-13 in the Super Rugby Aotearoa season-opener in Dunedin last Friday.

Despite their victory, the Crusaders were scrutinised for their lack of discipline throughout the contest as they conceded almost double the number of penalties the Highlanders gave away, with Ethan Blackadder and Scott Barrett both receiving yellow cards.

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Loosehead prop Joe Moody was fortunate to have escaped the sin bin as well after striking Highlanders lock Jack Regan in the face multiple times.

Referee Ben O’Keeffe admitted on Monday that the 50-test All Black should have been yellow carded.

Immediately after his side’s defeat, Highlanders head coach Tony Brown labelled the state of rugby as “sad” as he vented his frustrations that teams who regularly commit illegal acts aren’t being punished severely enough.

Brown’s comments came a week after the Crusaders received four yellow cards in their pre-season game-of-three-halves clashes with the Blues and Chiefs in Cambridge.

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Speaking to the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, Hall said that Brown’s comments were justified and that he and his teammates haven’t been “respecting” the laws of the game.

“I think it’s fair. The refs are refereeing it and we’re all playing the same way,” Hall, who scored a try in last Friday’s match, said.

“We’ve all been delivered around what the rules are and what the expectations are, so, unfortunately for us, we’re just not respecting that and so we’ve got to be able to make a clear shift.”

The 29-year-old warned the Crusaders are running the risk of losing matches in the coming weeks if their discipline doesn’t improve.

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“For us, we don’t want to be that team [where] that becomes our trademark around being penalised and giving teams easy outs and refs looking at us even more because these derbies can be so hard and especially when you’re giving away penalties.

“We’ve just got to be better at it. We just can’t afford to get ourselves in these positions again because these derby games, we’re going to start losing games if we keep putting ourselves under pressure like that.”

In the post-match press conference, Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson called for his squad to “self-discipline better”, a sentiment Hall said his side have taken onboard.

“We’re putting ourselves in those positions where we aren’t doing it right, so we’ve got to make a shift and we’re trying to do that, we’re trying to do that in-game, and moving forward, we want to see those numbers drop down so we don’t put ourselves under pressure.”

Former Blues hooker James Parsons, meanwhile, told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod he believed the officials dealt to the Crusaders well at Forsyth Barr Stadium, noting that “they were penalised, they were warned and the yellow cards were given, so I don’t know what more could have been done”.

However, the recently-retired two-test All Black suggested changes would need to be made as he said it was likely officials will crackdown on the Crusaders in their upcoming fixtures given their recent track record.

“I suppose from the week before, we spoke about it on here, the discipline and the amount of penalties that were given away in the pre-season game. I sort of jumped to their defence and thought that they would rectify things,” Parsons said.

“I was looking at the penalty count, I think there were five infringements in that first 20 [minutes], four penalties and one free kick at scrum time, and I was thinking, ‘Good lord, they haven’t learned from their mistakes’.

“The skipper Scott Barrett mentioned that they need to adjust and I’m sure they will adjust because the refs aren’t going to let up on them. Now it’s at a point that the refs will be looking at them even harder than the opposition.”

Super Rugby Aotearoa is available to watch live and on-demand on RugbyPass for subscribers in the UK, Ireland, France, Singapore and many more territories across the world who hold a tournament pass.

Listen to the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod below:

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R
RedWarrior 1 hour ago
Three-way race to be number one in World Rugby men's rankings

IF SA and NZ win then its 1,2,3 SA/NZ/IRL Otherwise as you were. This is largely irrelevant beyond bragging rights.


As I have pointed out elsewhere the practical use of the Rankings is to determine the seedings bands for the RWC draw. The draw takes place early 2026 and hopefully the rankings will be taken from then.


Important to be in the top 6, the top 12. (and likely the top 4).

This is because there are now 6 groups in the RWC 2027.

If you are in top 6 you are in Seeding Band 1. That means none of the other top 6 will be in your group.

Seeding Band 2 are teams from 7-12, who will have a top 6 team but no other 7-12 team.

After England's defeat by NZ there is clear water between NZ in 3rd, France in 4th and England in 5th. England are desperate for top4, ill come back and explain why later.

Lets look at Seeding Band 1 and 6th place. If you make 6th, no top 6 team is in your group, you are top dog. If you win your group, you won't be facing a top 6 team in your 1/8th final, you will be facing a weaker team. If you fail to make 6th place you WILL have a top 6 team in your group and if you don't win your group you WILL (probably) meet a top 6 in the 1/8 final. That's massive.


Its Argentina holding 6th now. Assuming England hold 5th, then its a 4 horse race for 6th. Argentina, Scotland, Italy and ...Australia. (ranked 6,7,8,9)

Australia play the Lions in NH summer 2025 they are running out of time to get up to 6th for their own RWC. They MUST make a move now. They must beat Wales and they really must beat Scotland to gain points and take points off them. Could they surprise England or Ireland? England may be the better bet but Schmidt knows Ireland so well having masterminded their downfall in France.

Another one to watch is Italy V Argentina. Italy are ambitious and they will want to start pushing the likes of Argentina. If they win this they are still in the hunt. Well worth a watch either way.


Top4: I think the top 6 will be seeded, all the way through from the draw. If thats the case then the top 4 will be seeded to avoid each other until the semi. Good for more certainty around ticket sales etc. That's a possible reason why England want in there. You're not in there you are hitting a top 4 team in a QF. That's an extra 50:50 match you can do without and avoid by being top 4.


Lets look at what Seeding bands might look like with todays rankings:


Seeding Band 1

IRE/SA/NZ/FRA/ENG/ARG

Seeding Band 2

SCO/ITA/AUS/FIJ/WAL/GEO


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: FIJI

1/8 final opponent GEORGIA

Prognosis: advance to 1/4 and potentially beyond


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if NOT in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: SOUTH AFRICA

1/8 final opponent NEW ZEALAND

Prognosis: You know the prognosis


I am pretty sure this is not lost on Joe Schmidt?


Keep in mind when enjoying the matches.

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LONG READ
LONG READ England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit
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