Crusaders player ratings vs Chiefs | Super Rugby Pacific
A commendable defensive effort from the Crusaders has seen them topple the Chiefs and draw one step closer to their 13th title.
Despite being on the wrong side of the territory and possession percentages as well as the tackle and penalty tally, the hosts were clinical with the chances afforded to them and were resolute in keeping the Waikato-based outfit at bay.
Their discipline will need to be addressed if they’re to secure another trophy, but Scott Robertson will be proud of his team’s effort given all they endured on the stat sheet and having played for close to half an hour with only 14 men.
Here’s how the Crusaders rated:
1. George Bower – 5/10
Would have been disappointed with the missed tackle on Angus Ta’avao that saw him score, but was otherwise solid in all other instances. Looks to be a choice between him and Ethan de Groot for the No 1 jersey in Ian Foster’s side.
2. Codie Taylor – 5
Managed to clock up double digits in the tackle column (11) before being substituted for McAlister at the break – must have had some sort of niggle.
3. Oli Jager – 5
Did well to look fresh as long as he did after so many scrum resets, not to mention the repeat efforts he made when soaking up wave after wave of Chiefs attack.
4. Scott Barrett – 7
An instrumental performance from the skipper in what would have seen him under more stress than other weeks with Sam Whitelock’s late withdrawal. Relentless in his pursuit of the ball carrier and laid it all on the line when asked to truck it up or absorb the contact.
5. Zach Gallagher – 4
A mixed bag from the youngster. Spilled a great attacking chance at a lineout and penalised on a couple of occasions to relieve the opposition of any pressure. It’d be remiss not to mention his security at all his other jumps, though, and the zero misses in 20 attempts on D.
6. Pablo Matera – 2
Sent to the naughty chair for repeated infringements in the 20th minute. Was back on the field for roughly a minute before receiving his second yellow for a high shot on Gatland.
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7. Tom Christie – 6
It’s almost inevitable that when this guy gets a start he’ll have made the most use of shoulders in comparison to everyone else on the park. The openside was responsible for more than 13 per cent of the Crusaders’ tackles having tallied 30 out of the 222.
8. Cullen Grace – 8
On a night that saw the game fall in the hands of the forwards, it was Grace whose display spoke the loudest. Showed great speed off the mark before extending his inspector-gadget-like arm over for his first score and kept his torso warm on a chilly evening with a feast of collisions.
9. Bryn Hall – 5
Yapped away at his pack until the sign went up in the 50th minute to bring his night to a close. Did a great job of making life difficult for Brad Weber by harassing him at every chance while also nailing his core duties in less than desirable conditions.
10. Richie Mo’unga – 6
Big-time players make big-time plays. His pressure on Alex Nankivell to force a drop that then turned into a five-metre scrum at the other end of the field was a game-changer, but to then follow it up by slipping past Ta’avao before laying on the perfect pass to Grace for his second was just remarkable.
11. Leicester Fainga’anuku – 5
Huge intercept on the stroke of halftime to prevent the Chiefs from cutting the deficit. Was only forced into making a handful of other defensive efforts as well as having quiet but effective contributions with the ball.
12. David Havili – 5
His night looked to have ended early after taking a knee from Pita Gus Sowakula to the cheek; however, he showed no signs of care for the knock after returning from his HIA and was one of a number of Crusaders who seemed to be getting off the deck every second phase.
13. Jack Goodhue – 6
A real blue-collar performance from the ever-consistent All Black. Carried hard, flexed his kicking game when required and finished as the top tackler in the backs (17) without a single miss.
14. Sevu Reece – 5
The weather meant the Fijian flyer wouldn’t be afforded the same chances he’d usually be getting, although this didn’t make him any less interested in tonight’s proceedings. Tackled everything down his channel and was the first one to celebrate the small wins with his teammates.
15. Will Jordan – 7
Posed a threat with every touch, but was even more impactful on the flip side. The effort he showed in covering on numerous occasions was pivotal in keeping the Chiefs out of their in-goal area and demonstrated to the rugby public that there’s more to his game than just crossing the chalk.
Reserves:
16. Brodie McAlister – 6
Replaced Taylor at the interval and came up with a couple of big turnovers as part of the red and black wall.
17. Tamaiti Williams – 6
Made use of all 140kg of him while also doing a number on the Chiefs’ reserve props at scrum time.
18. Fletcher Newell – 5
Not quite as noticeable as Williams around the park, but did his part to keep things steady at the set piece.
19. Quinten Strange – 5
Returned to the action earlier than expected after sustaining a calf injury back in April. Battled away after being thrust into the fire for the final quarter.
20. Corey Kellow – N/A
Got a handful of minutes off the bench.
21. Mitchell Drummond – 5
Not as influential as we’ve come to expect, although he didn’t put a foot wrong either.
22. Braydon Ennor – N/A
On for Goodhue in the 67th minute.
23. George Bridge – 5
A couple of nice kick takes and runs in his brief cameo.
Comments on RugbyPass
Both nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
1 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to comments