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Why another Crusaders championship feels inevitable before decider
By Finn Morton
As most rugby fans in the southern hemisphere would attest to, there’s an all-too-familiar sense of déjà vu ahead of this weekend’s Super Rugby Pacific final.
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For the seventh year in a row – as many predicted – the Crusaders are on the cusp of glory. The defending champions have shown resilience, patience and skill en route to yet another decider.
Much like the great sporting dynasties of Tom Brady’s Patriots and MJ’s Bulls, or Thanos’ villainy if you’d rather dip your toes into the world of fiction, there’s something inevitable about another Crusaders title.
Rugby fans have watched this cinematic masterpiece before.
Whether you love to hate them or hate to love them, it’s impossible to ignore or downplay the unprecedented greatness of this Crusaders outfit.
Scott Robertson has proven himself a tactical genius throughout his tenure, and the world-class squad appear hungrier than ever to add more silverware to the franchise’s glistening trophy cabinet.
Time and time again, like clockwork, the Crusaders have lived up to the hype and embodied what it means to be champions on the biggest stage in Super Rugby.
The fact that they’ve timed their run to perfection for the better part of a decade is more than astonishing, in truth, it’s closer to destiny – the combination of a winning culture and an incredible level of consistency.
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Let’s start at the beginning.
No, not the start of the legendary modern-day dynasty – although we’ll certainly get to that – but rather the start of Super Rugby.
When Super 12 began in 1996, the Crusaders were far from exceptional. They couldn’t have been any worse as far as the ladder was concerned.
After collecting the wooden spoon in their maiden campaign, the Christchurch-based franchise improved to a mid-table finish the following year.
But then, the Crusaders as we now know them were born.
The Crusaders hoisted their first title in triumph in 1998 and ended up winning four of five titles through to 2002 – or five from eight before the start of Super 14.
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Despite the introduction of expansion sides the Western Force and Cheetahs into the new-look Super 14 in 2006, the Crusaders ended up winning two titles in three years.
This is a team who knows how to win. This is something forged within the club, embedded into the ethos of what it means to be a Crusader.
The Crusaders had to wait almost a decade for their next title in 2017, but little did rugby fans know that an unrivalled dynasty had just begun.
After beating the Lions in Johannesburg – the same team that had defeated them in the quarter-finals the year before – the Crusaders were champions once again.
The following year, another win over the Lions saw them go back-to-back, and a victory over the Jaguares in Christchurch saw them complete a hat-trick of titles in 2019.
Long story short, the Crusaders have won six titles in as many years – and counting.
Again, this is a team who knows how to win – understands what it means to harness the pressure of a final in order to rise up to a new level.
The likes of Richie Mo’unga, Scott Barrett, Sam Whitelock, Codie Taylor and more – it’d take an age to list all of their championship winners – have been there before and thrived.
Some are preparing to play their last match in the famous red and black strip, and will certainly want to go out as winners.
That’s their point of difference. That’s what makes them Crusaders.
But of course, there are two teams in a final, and it wouldn’t be fair to bestow the ‘favourites’ tag upon the Crusaders without looking at the Chiefs.
The Chiefs have been nothing short of sensational this season and should be full of confidence ahead of the decider in front of their home fans.
They set the tone in the opening round of the season with a 31-10 demolition of the champion Crusaders in Christchurch – and backed that up with another win in the ‘rematch’ later in the season.
It’s quite rare that teams beat the Crusaders twice in a season, let alone three times – in fact it’s never happened. History is within reach.
But whether it’s down to pressure or another factor, the minor premiers appear to be slipping while the Crusaders are soaring.
The Chiefs snuck by the Reds in their quarter-final and survived another scare against the ACT Brumbies last weekend. Ultimately, Brodie Retallick was the hero with a match-sealing try at the death.
But the Chiefs look like a shadow of their former selves.
Meanwhile, the Crusaders have been phenomenal.
After ending their regular season with a loss to the Hurricanes, the Crusaders swept the Fijian Drua off the park in the quarter-final – and dominated the Blues last weekend.
Coming up against a team that boasts world-class talent including the likes of Beauden Barrett and Rieko Ioane, the Crusaders ended up winning 52-15.
It wasn’t even close.
When it comes to the playoffs, the Crusaders’ consistency is unmatched. When the pressure is on, they just get better and better.
Whether or not they win on Saturday remains to be seen, but it appears to be inevitable that they’ll be crowned champions once more.
Terrible analogies: they are nothing like Brady and Jordan’s achievements. This person clearly doesn’t watch The top sports leagues in the US. The level of actual competition alone in those grander leagues far outstrips what Super Rugby in any of its permutations was or could ever be: 75% of the teams in these SR competitions wouldn’t even be considered jr league in the NFL or NBA, c’mon. Furthermore, you’re making the classic mistake 90% of “analysts” made for the 2019 World Cup, just because the crusaders smashed a shit for brains blues team last weekend doesn’t mean one iota for this weekend against a chiefs team that struggled to put away whatever the precious, flailing, wish-they-were-as-good-as-their-NRL-counterpart Aussies.