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
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould'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.
30 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 comments