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Crusaders score first seven-point try in World Series rout

By Online Editors

The Crusaders have scored the first Power Try of World Series Rugby, achieving the feat in the fourth match since the format’s introduction.

Halfback Mitchell Drummond needed just six minutes to score the seven-pointer on Friday night after the Crusaders launched an attack from within their defensive 22m. The seven points contributed to a 44-8 dismantling of the Western Force in front of 14,259 fans at nib Stadium.

The home side held strong against the defending Super Rugby champions for the first 40 minutes and trailed by just eight points at halftime.

But it was the Crusaders who pulled away in the second spell despite missing their All Blacks stars.

The Force scored just one try in the match, while the Crusaders ran in six.

The Crusaders’ squad tallied more than 700 games of Super Rugby experience, thanks in large part to former All Blacks Israel Dagg and Wyatt Crockett.

“It was a great fight. It was hotly contested and it was physical,” Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said.

“We’ve played a lot of high-level rugby in the last six months, so we just thought maybe our fitness got us through.

“It was an awesome spectacle. The energy we got from the crowd [was big].”

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Drummond’s Power Try opened the scoring, but the Force hit back just minutes later through Ian Prior. The try was set up by a run from Fijian debutant Masivesi Dakuwaqa.

An Olympic gold medallist with Fiji, 24-year-old Dakuwaqa impressed for the Force but the home side spent the majority of the game on the defensive.

“There’s disappointment there,” Force coach Tim Sampson said.

“We were probably pressured there to playing out of our systems but the way the game finished we showed a lot of grit and that’s the character of this team.

“We never take a backwards step and that was evident in the last quarter of the game.”

The Force will next take on a Samoan side on 14 July, hoping to end a two-game losing streak.

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The Crusaders will resume their Super Rugby campaign when they host the Highlanders on July 6th.

In other news:

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Senzo Cicero 10 hours ago
'If the South Africans are in, they need to be all in'

1. True, if that “free” ticket means access to all but the prized exhibit - EVIP only. SA cannot host semis, even if they’ve earned it (see Sharks vs ASM Clermont Auvergne at… Twickenham Stoop). 2. Why no selective outrage over Lyon doing the exact same thing a week earlier? Out of all the countries France send the most “B teams”, why nobody talking about “disrespect” and “prioritising domestic leagues” and “kicking them out”? 3. Why no mention of the Sharks fielding all of their Springboks for the second rate Challenge cup QF? No commitment? 4. Why no mention of all the SA teams qualifying for respective euro knock out comps in the two seasons they’ve been in it? How many euro teams have qualified for KO’s in their history? Can’t compete? 5. Why no mention of SA teams beating French and English giants La Rochelle and Saracens? How many euro teams have done that in their history? Add no quality? The fact is that SA teams are only in their second season in europe, with no status and a fraction of the resources. Since joining the URC, SA has seen a repatriation of a number of players, and this will only grow once SA start sharing in the profits of competing in these comps, meaning bigger squads with greater depth and quality, meaning they don’t have to prioritise comps as they have to now - they don’t have imports from Pacifica and South America and everywhere else in between like “European” teams have - also less “Saffas” in Prem and T14, that’s what we want right? 'If the South Africans are in, they need to be all in' True, and we have to ensure we give them the same status and resources as we give everyone else to do just that. A small compromise on scheduling will go a long way in avoiding these situations, but guess what, France and England wont compromise on scheduling because they ironically… prioritise their domestic comps, go figure!

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