Crusaders teams don't beat themselves like the Hurricanes, they are far too good
Knowing the result changes things, obviously.
Work commitments meant I didn’t watch the Hurricanes’ home clash with the Crusaders live, but I had it taped and then avoided any outlet that might give the result away.
In the end a mate rang and let the cat out of the bag, which kind of changed the viewing experience. Although only to a point.
Hurricanes co-captain TJ Perenara suggested after the match that his team had been right in it at 25-25.
That sounds fair enough in theory. But even with full knowledge of what the eventual outcome would be, it was still impossible to watch events at Sky Stadium with any sense that the Crusaders might lose.
To be absolutely honest, they won that match at a canter and could’ve cleared out by far more than 39-25 if the mood had taken them, providing a sobering reminder of just how much better they are than everyone else.
It’s not just that the Crusaders are well-coached and well-disciplined. It’s not only their ability to execute their skills under pressure that sets them apart.
It’s that, purely and simply, they have way more good players than everyone else.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBtldMdgt_n/
Take Scott Barrett, Quinten Strange, Tom Christie and Tom Sanders out of any other Super Rugby Aotearoa pack and see how you go. No Andrew Makalio or Harry Allan either? No worries.
The poor old Chiefs looked capable of being crowned Super Rugby champions when footy first kicked off for the year. But with no Atu Moli on deck and no Michael Allardice or Angus Ta’avao, they now look pretty ordinary indeed.
David Havili surely won’t spend the whole season on the bench for the Crusaders – having now recovered from stomach surgery – but what a luxury to have him as a second-half sub at Sky Stadium. And Mitchell Drummond and Ethan Blackadder and Oli Jager and Luke Romano and so on.
Leicester Fainga’anuku might be the main attacking threat at some franchises. At the Crusaders he’s doing well to simply be in the reserves.
Players will always gravitate towards a winning team, but the Crusaders’ depth is testament to their ability to identify good, coachable talent and to then sell a culture and a way of playing to that talent.
Among the more unusual invitations to ever come my way, was one last week to a Zoom meeting with referees.
There will be people, those far more steeped in the game than I, who would have jumped at the chance. Me? No, thanks.
It was a pleasure to watch the way the Crusaders infringed on Sunday. It eventually led to the sin-binning of centre Jack Goodhue, but was a commendable tactic all the same.
Being well-coached and well-disciplined doesn’t have to mean being fair or playing to the rules or even to the spirit that the rules were intended. Sometimes it actually means giving away smart penalties at smart times and, boy, didn’t the Crusaders do that at Sky Stadium.
We’re all heartened by the Blues. They’re still very much a work in progress, but they’re winning and not by brilliant means either.
Some teams can’t win ugly or can’t win when it’s not their best day. The Blues were one of those, but aren’t now.
They’re still not the finished article, so they will make errors and they might still cough the odd game up.
But better to be the Blues right now than the Hurricanes, Highlanders and Chiefs. You feel those three are searching a bit. They’d all like to play a certain way, but don’t quite have the ability or nous or cattle to make that happen.
The Crusaders’ method is not only proven, but plain to see. Sure it evolves and gets tweaked, but the main principles remain.
Crusaders teams don’t beat themselves. They don’t, as Perenara did on Sunday, lament chances that got away or passes that didn’t stick.
Such was the Crusaders’ command over the Hurricanes, you’d have thought they’d been playing for months. Other teams might work their way into a season or offer excuses for why things didn’t work, but not them.
No, when you’re built on the sort of foundations the Crusaders are, then playing well is just the inevitable outcome.
Comments on RugbyPass
Pick 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.
15 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?
4 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.
4 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.
26 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 🤐
15 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….
26 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….
15 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….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
15 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to comments