Crusaders player ratings vs Western Force | Super Rugby Trans-Tasman
The Crusaders may have picked up a 29-21 win over the Western Force in Christchurch on Friday, but their Super Rugby Trans-Tasman final hopes took a big blow as they failed to secure a bonus-point in the dying stages of the match.
Starved of the ball throughout much of the second half, the Crusaders still managed to run in five tries, although there was a sense of wastefulness as they were disallowed a few tries and missed some kicks at goal to leave the scoreline tighter than it should have been.
With that in mind, here’s how the reigning Super Rugby Aotearoa champions rated:
1. Tamaiti Williams – 7
Massive behemoth of a young man. Used his huge frame well at scrum time and then for what would have been a try right on the stroke of half-time had it not been for Tomas Cubelli’s terrific defensive work. Standing at 1.93m and 140kg at the age of just 21, this guy has a big future ahead of him. Off in the 62nd minute.
2. Codie Taylor – 6
Quiet for the most part in the first half. Didn’t get up to a whole lot in second half either, although he did register 12 tackles without missing one. Off in the 59th minute.
3. Michael Alaalatoa – 5
Pinged once at scrum in the first half for dropping a knee. Wasn’t the only time he was outmuscled up front. Off in the 66th minute.
4. Scott Barrett – 6
Unrelenting aggression throughout. Lots of physicality, but not a huge amount to write home about.
5. Mitchell Dunshea – 6
Paired up with Barrett nicely throughout, but was guilty of a few mishaps such as an obstruction and a missed tackle that helped enable the Force to get on the front foot on attack towards the end of the half. Was otherwise defensively sound. Off in the 65th minute.
6. Whetukamokamo Douglas – 7
Good turnover to help set-up Mataele’s try. Followed that up with a try of his own as he showed great strength to peel off of a maul and drive over from five metres out. Contributed hugely around the park and was the focal point of his side’s lineout.
7. Sione Havili Talitui – 6.5
Great work rate on attack, which he was rewarded for right on half-time as he crashed over for a hard-earned try. Caught lagging defensively in the lead-up to Ollie Callan’s try. Nevertheless, he will give Tom Christie a good run for his money in the starting lineup next season.
8. Cullen Grace – 6.5
Continued his resurgent form after a slot start to the year. Not at his emphatic best, but still showed plenty of vigour with ball in hand. Off at half-time.
The decision to rest a raft of their frontline players could come back to haunt the Crusaders, even if they did overcome the Western Force 29-21 on Friday. #SuperRugbyTT #CRUvFOR https://t.co/r3t4R9CJCH
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 4, 2021
9. Bryn Hall – 6.5
Cost Mataele his second try with an unlucky knock on at the base of a ruck. Bossed his forwards around astutely. Superb flat ball to find Jordan for his second try. Decent without setting the world alight. Off in the 52nd minute.
10. Fergus Burke – 6
Obviously not in the same class as Richie Mo’unga, but looked composed in his first start for the Crusaders. Perhaps a full season of provincial footy as a starter will do his develop wonders as he looks ahead to next season. Off in the 77th minute.
11. Leicester Fainga’anuku – 6
Ran a nice line and showed a deft touch to put Will Jordan away for his first half try. Made a couple of bruising ball carries, but was otherwise kept quiet for much of the contest.
12. David Havili – 7
Showed good intent to step up as first receiver to take the pressure off of Burke. Stupendous cut out ball to put Mataele in the corner for his second try but was unfortunate to have it ruled out because of Bryn Hall’s knock on. Immense work to hold up Kyle Godwin over the tryline to deny the Force their third try, but followed that up with a speculative pass to Mataele shortly afterwards. A mixed bag, but did what he could in this disjointed lineup.
13. Braydon Ennor – 6
Great decision-making to stab a grubber while under defensive pressure to assist Mataele’s try. Defensively solid but nothing outrageously spectacular.
14. Manasa Mataele – 6
Showed good composure to keep the ball under control and score from Ennor’s grubber kick. Looked dangerous when given an chance, aside from his last two touches where he spilt the ball cold before being subbed in the 59th minute.
15. Will Jordan – 6.5
Stood up badly by Toni Pulu en route to the Force’s opening try. Redeemed himself by finishing off a well-worked try from a set play about 20 minutes later. Near costly decision to let the high ball bounce in the early stages of the second half as the Force went on to score. Bounced back again to run a wonderful line off Hall’s pass to score his second try seven minutes later. Looked to have struck a matter of minutes later as he and Douglas capitalised on Domingo Miotti’s spillage, but it was ruled out thanks to a foot in touch by Jordan Olowofela. Like Havili, a mixed bag overall, but plenty of positives to take out of it.
Reds co-captain James O’Connor has reportedly been ruled out of his 100th Super Rugby game against the Blues at Suncorp Stadium on Friday. #SuperTT #REDvBLU https://t.co/GKy0JljOfe
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 4, 2021
Reserves:
16. Nathan Vella – 6
On in the 59th minute. Made a nuisance of himself at the breakdown a few times.
17. Isileli Tu’ungafasi – 6
On in the 62nd minute. A tough act to follow after Williams’ showing.
18. Fletcher Newell – 6.5
On in the 66th minute. Won his side a super important turnover as the Force built sustained pressure deep inside enemy territory.
19. Luke Romano – 6
On in the 65th minute. Added some impetus when called upon.
20. Tom Sanders – 6
On at half-time. Brought plenty of physicality on either side of the ball in a welcome return from injury. Could challenge for a starting spot next week.
21. Mitchell Drummond – 7
On in the 52nd minute. Sensational hustle on defence off the back of a scrum to earn his side a penalty. Secured his side with a vital turnover inside his own 22 in the 69th minute. Deserves to start again next week.
22. Dallas McLeod – N/A
On in the 77th minute.
23. Josh McKay – 6
On in the 59th minute. First action was a wayward bomb kick which piled pressure on his own side. Involved heavily on attack the few times that the Crusaders found themselves in that position after he came on.
Comments on RugbyPass
Should've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to comments