Freddie Burns' ruthless introduction to Richie Mo'unga and the Crusaders
Crusaders first five-eighth Richie Mo’unga was back to his destructive best on Friday night dominating the Highlanders in a near-record win, rebounding after a shock loss to the Chiefs.
Mo’unga said he was ‘disappointed’ in himself last week in Christchurch and promptly went about making amends as seven tries piled more misery on the Highlanders in Melbourne.
The Highlanders had fight in the opening stages and trailed by just 10-3 before some Mo’unga magic took the wind out of their sail.
New English import Freddie Burns showed some class from the boot early as his kicking game helped the Highlanders into some good field positions but it eventually backfired.
A cross-field chip kick by the ex-England first five was partially charged and failed to find a mark, the deflection bounced fortuitously into the hands of the Crusaders’ No 10 who made them pay dearly.
Mo’unga raced down the right touchline, swerving inside Burns’ first tackle attempt before a one-hand fling back inside kept the ball alive. Slick handling by the Crusaders backs saw fullback Fergus Burke finish the end-to-end try.
The counter-attacking brilliance of the Crusaders was a harsh introduction into New Zealand rugby for Burns in his first Super Rugby start after his debut off the bench last week.
When kicks go array, you don’t want them to find the competition’s most dangerous attacking player.
Freddie Burns has a lot to learn in Super Rugby.
Chip and chasing doesn’t work like it does in the Premiership… #SuperRugbyPacific #CRUvHIG
— Tight Five Rugby (@TightFive_Rugby) March 3, 2023
🪄 Magic from Richie Mo'unga and then the continuity!
🔴 A try for the ages from the Crusaders in the latter stages of the first half. #CRUvHIG #SuperRugbyPacific pic.twitter.com/BywQ1bC030
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) March 3, 2023
A rolling maul try on half-time gave the Crusaders a 24-3 lead, but a minute after half-time a set play by David Havili and Mo’unga that targeted Burns in the backfield paid dividends.
The Crusaders pair combined to show how attacking kicks work in the Southern Hemisphere.
🎨Coup de pied de recentrage – Crusaders⚔️🔴⚫️
Palette nocturne pour les amoureux du #SuperRugbyPacific avec la finition géniale des Crusaders qui remettent à la mode le petit coup de pied de recentrage pour l'essai de Mo'unga.
Action qui n'est pas improvisée !#CRUvHIG pic.twitter.com/NpLrtpOkf5
— Cyp (@SprinterEmerite) March 4, 2023
The Crusaders No 12 executed a clever banana kick back across the ruck planned for Mo’unga to chase.
The All Black swooped on the bouncing ball to secure and get it down just before the dead ball line to score a brilliant try.
Burns was the only member of the Highlanders backfield and had tracked over to Havili’s side, opening up the space for the kick over the ruck.
The try wasn’t just Burns fault, the Crusaders planned kick just targeted the weakness in the Highlanders’ defensive system.
It was a ruthless introduction for Burns and the Highlanders must find answers quickly to stop the bleeding with another tough derby up next against the Chiefs.
The 52-15 defeat was just shy of a record losing margin for the second week in a row for the Highlanders.
The opening losses to the Blues and Crusaders sit as the club’s second and third heaviest losses in history, just short of the 43-point loss to the Brumbies in 1996.
“It was awesome to get the win, but more importantly to play some footy,” said Mo’unga of the win.
“The Cheifs played all the footy last week and we wanted to come out and impose ourselves against the Highlanders, so I think we did a good job.
“I was pretty disappointed in myself as a driver last week, not putting ourselves in the right areas of the field, so today is very satisfying.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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
3 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 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.
30 Go to comments