Crusaders vs Highlanders: Joseph's missing piece, sauce-less 'Saders

The Crusaders escaped a tight encounter with their southern rivals, the Highlanders, with a win after scoring just 15 points throughout 80 minutes of action in Christchurch.

The home side were forced to make well over twice as many tackles as the visitors, and while points were hard to come by for both teams, it was the Crusaders who executed when the game was on the line to get the win.

The Highlanders had their chances, including an 80th-minute penalty that would’ve sent the game into Golden Point, but let their chance of a famous victory slip between their fingers.

Here are some takeaways from the contest.

Highlanders’ inexperience proves costly

Jamie Joseph will be left disappointed by how many opportunities were squandered by simple little Highlanders errors.

A recurring theme for the visitors was the lack of execution when placing the ball after being tackled, with the ball often spilling or falling just outside the ruck, making it available for the Crusaders to steal or just rush forward and make a mess of the Highlanders’ attack.

There was also a string of kicks in the final half-hour that were either poor decisions or poorly executed. Folau Fakatava had one in the 52nd minute that went long, and then again in the 55th when his side had momentum after Taine Robinson’s try.

Cam Millar misplaced a kick in the 60th minute and then took a quick tap seven minutes later that got Thomas Umaga-Jensen isolated on the wing, leaving him little choice but to put in an awkward and rushed kick of his own.

There were moments that looked like the young Highlanders wanted to make a hero play rather than sticking with the game plan that had them in the game up until that point.

Composure will come with experience, but in the meantime, they’ll be left with some painful lessons after getting so close to a big upset.

Joseph’s missing piece

There are a lot of bright spots in this young Highlanders team.

Fabian Holland in the second row has been superb, the back row has some real talent in the likes of TK Howden, Veveni Lasaqa and Sean Withy. In the backline, Folau Fakatava has been great, feeding a dominant midfield trio of Timoci Tavatavanawai, Tanielu Tele’a and Thomas Umaga-Jensen, and the speed out wide in Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens and Caleb Tangitau offers as much excitement as you’ll see anywhere in rugby.

Where they are lacking, and it was brutally exposed in this game, is at 10.

Jamie Joseph has won a Super Rugby title with this club before, and naturally, will be aiming to reach those heights yet again. Recent champion 10s include nothing but All Blacks: Harry Plummer, Richie Mo’unga, Beauden Barrett and Lima Sopoaga being the only 10s to have won over the past decade.

Taine Robinson has put together a great rookie campaign for this team and had some great moments against the Crusaders, but as a 25-year-old in his first full season of Super Rugby, he doesn’t compare to the list of aforementioned champs.

Cam Miller and Ajay Faleafaga have been hyped prospects, but are struggling to find their feet in Super Rugby the way some of their playmaking counterparts around the country are.

Joseph has been active in recruiting talent from across the competition, and could look to bolster his playmaking stocks with someone going unused elsewhere.

The Blues have plenty of talent, and even after Harry Plummer departs at the end of this season, one of either Stephen Perofeta or Zarn Sullivan will be left to ride the bench. Rico Simpson is the next man up, coming through the Auckland ranks.

The Hurricanes have three players currently vying for the No. 10 jersey, when healthy, with Ruben Love, Brett Cameron and Harry Godfrey. U20s prospect Stanley Solomon will join that contest shortly after two starring campaigns with the Baby Blacks, so too will Will Cole.

Whichever way the coach leans, it needs to be a star in the flesh or in the making, for both the Highlanders’ sake and New Zealand Rugby’s, who would hate to see one of the aforementioned talents look offshore due to a lack of opportunity.

Front row depth is also desperately needed down south.

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Crusaders missing the sauce

While last weekend’s first-half dismantling of the Waratahs bucked the trend, the Crusaders’ linebreak numbers have dropped off over the last month.

After averaging eight linebreaks per game to start the year, the Crusaders managed just three breaks against the Highlanders. The team were largely starved of possession, but the recipe for winning titles in Super Rugby demands more attacking flavour; sauce, if you will.

Recent injuries to starting 10 and 15 Taha Kemara and Will Jordan have removed two pillars of the Crusaders’ attack, and while the latter is hoped to be on track for a quarter-final return, the former is done for the season.

Wales veteran Johnny McNicholl found a moment to inject himself into the action for a linebreak in the first half, but didn’t feature all that heavily outside of that.

For a young 10 coming into the starting XV like Rivez Reihana, unlocking Will Jordan, should he return, will be top priority. Backline cohesion is irreplaceable; cohesion fellow title contenders like the Chiefs and Brumbies have in spades.

After Jordan was sidelined for the entirety of the 2024 Super Rugby season – Reihana’s first with the Crusaders – the pair have only shared the field for around 90 minutes of game time. Even if Jordan is to return for the playoffs, those are some bright lights for a key, new combination when facing the likes of Damian McKenzie and Shaun Stevenson, who know each other’s game inside out.

The good news for the Crusaders is that their defence has shown it can lock in and lock opponents down when needed. Unlike the game against the Chiefs, the tackle success against the Highlanders came with the physicality to match.