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Whitelock proud of champion Crusaders

Seta Tamanivalu seeks to make ground for the Crusaders

Crusaders captain Sam Whitelock hailed the “true grit” of his side after they claimed an eighth Super Rugby crown with victory over the Lions in Johannesburg.

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Although the hosts staged an admirable late fightback with 14 men after falling 22 points down and losing Kwagga Smith to a 39th-minute red card, the Crusaders were able to triumph 25-17.

“I’m just so proud of the boys and the way they’ve fronted [up], especially today,” said Whitelock during the post-match presentation.

“It’s just been an amazing year. The Lions are a great side, they’ve shown it all year. They’ve scored a massive amount of points. We knew we had to keep playing, keep attacking.

“Full credit to them, they put us under a massive amount of pressure. The boys just showed their true grit that I know they have.”

Lions skipper Jaco Kriel was gracious in defeat and showed emotion as he paid tribute to the club’s outgoing players and coach Johan Ackermann, who will now take over Premiership side Gloucester.

“It was really an incredible year for us. I’m really proud of every single one of them,” said Kriel after the Lions’ second successive final loss.

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“It’s not the way we want to send out our players that are going away and it’s not the way we want to send away coach, but we really love them and we wish them all the best.

“Well done to the Crusaders, they’re a championship side.”

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Nickers 21 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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