Crusaders coach admits they were 'beaten up physically' by Moana Pasifika

The Crusaders were sitting pretty in second place heading into round seven of Super Rugby Pacific, but now they have dropped to third, where the Brumbies are hot on their tails after their close victory over the Highlanders on Friday night.

The Crusaders clearly missed some of their first string players for the matchup against Moana Pasifika, including influential captain and key backline playmaker David Havili.

It was a historic victory for Moana Pasifika on Saturday evening, but for the Crusaders, it’s back to the drawing board this week before a tough trip to Suva to take on the Fijian Drua.

Crusaders head coach Rob Penney admits his team were completely outplayed on the night, saying his team’s physicality was not up to scratch.

“We were beaten physically, they just wanted it more than us, they went through us,” Penney told media post-match in Christchurch.

“We were fragile on our defence and we slipped off several tackles and they got behind us. They’ve proven that they are a quality side, particularly in the 22 once they’re in behind you.

“That was certainly evident today.”

Despite the Crusaders bringing back the deficit to only nine points in the 53rd minute, Penney says that they were always chasing the game from the get-go.

“We were always playing catch up, that’s not how you’re going to do well if that’s your mindset.

“We dug it in for a bit, and then there was another error, and we got punished down the other end.”

When asked by the media whether Penney thought the defeat was a wake-up call, he disagreed, calling it instead a poor performance.

“It was just poor, we didn’t have the emotional energy that they did and you don’t have to be far off to get punished in this competition.

“We felt that we’d really set the group up as a coaching team, we felt we’d set it up along with the leaders to make sure we respect them, and that the performance was coming, be ready for it.”

The upcoming schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Crusaders, as they travel to Fiji next week before local derbies against the Hurricanes, Blues, Highlanders and Chiefs in weeks to come.

Penney says that the Drua will be a difficult challenge in their own right, especially as they didn’t perform very well against the Force last time out.

“Well, I don’t think we’ve ever won in Fiji, but I know the coaching staff got into them last week, I don’t think they played very well against the Force, and they’ve had the bye now.

“They’ve probably been waiting for an opportunity to do well in front of their fans and it will be very challenging, as we know.

“Heading into those games down the track, we just got to take one game at a time and prepare well at each game.

“Can’t look too far ahead, but that was really disappointing tonight.”