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'He's playing like an All Black': Scott Robertson's high praise for star Crusader

By Alex McLeod
(Photo by Peter Meecham/Getty Images)

Many players stood out as the Crusaders dug deep to book their place in next week’s Super Rugby Pacific final with a semi-final victory over the Chiefs on Friday.

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One player in particular, though, has drawn special praise from head coach Scott Robertson in the wake of his side’s gritty 20-7 win in Christchurch.

Forced to make a record-breaking 246 tackles, 130 more than their opponents, plenty of Crusaders players put in juggernaut defensive shifts in terrible conditions at Orangetheory Stadium.

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Tom Christie, for example, made a match-high 26 tackles, and was followed in the tackle count by Scott Barrett (25), while young lock Zach Gallagher (21) was also an ever-present figure on the opposite side of the ball.

However, it was two-try hero Cullen Grace who caught Robertson’s eye in a performance where he made 22 tackles, scored the only tries for his team, acted as his team’s primary lineout target and proved his worth as a top-class No 8.

It’s for that reason that Robertson suggested after the match that the one-test All Black, who last played for New Zealand two years ago, could be in the reckoning for an international re-call.

“That try off the back of the scrum, that’s a throwback, isn’t it? To reach out, and I just think the braveness to reach out and score that, his contacts, he’s playing like an All Black,” Robertson said of Grace.

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“Those consistencies, he’s carrying the ball, his defensive efforts, it’s pretty special. As I mentioned before, he’s the best lineout loose forward in the competition, so there’s a lot to like about him. I’m glad that his body’s right and he’s consistent.”

Those comments are timely given the first All Blacks squad of the year is set to be named on Monday ahead of next month’s three-test series against Ireland.

With Ardie Savea the first-choice selection at No 8, Grace is in competition with the likes of Hoskins Sotutu, Pita Gus Sowakula and Marino Mikaele-Tu’u to play the back-up No 8 role in the All Blacks squad.

After outshining Sowakula in their head-to-head battle, the 22-year-old’s efforts against the Chiefs puts pressure on Sotutu to match that performance when the Blues host the Brumbies in the second semi-final in Auckland on Saturday.

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Grace wasn’t the only Crusaders star who shone in the eyes of Robertson, who was just as pleased with the playmaking ability of first-five Richie Mo’unga.

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The 28-year-old pivot was once again a leading light for the hosts as he produced another masterclass in the No 10 jersey for the franchise, which was all the more impressive considering the wet and wild conditions the match was played in.

Contributing 10 points off the boot, nailing four of his five kicks at goal, Mo’unga turned the game on its head near the end of the first half in the lead-up to Grace’s second try.

Some beautiful line-running enabled him to burst into the opposition’s red zone, where he flung a magical offload into the hands of George Bower, while his next touch in the following phase was a long cut-out ball to put Grace into acres of space to score.

Moments like those proved to be crucial for the Crusaders, and Robertson paid tribute to Mo’unga’s contribution to the win.

“Richie Mo’s a winner. He wins games, he finds ways to win,” Robertson said.

“We could have been better in a lot of areas, but the touches, the class, he missed that kick that would have made it a three-score game, but that’s the only thing I can really remember [that Mo’unga did badly].

“Everything else was brave. He played, he showed good feet. When we were down men, everyone stood up, but he was special.”

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Nickers 26 minutes ago
The changes Scott Robertson must make to address All Blacks’ bench woes

Hopefully Robertson and co aren't applying this type of thinking to their selections, although some of their moves this year have suggested that might be the case.


The first half of Foster's tenure, when he was surrounded by coaches who were not up to the task, was disastrous due to this type of reactionary chopping and changing. No clear plan of the direction of travel or what needs to be built to get there. Just constant tinkering. A player gets dropped one week, on the bench the next, back to starting the next, dropped for the next week again. Add in injuries and other variations of this selection pattern, combined with vastly different game plans from one week to the next and it's no wonder the team isn't clicking on attack and are making incredibly basic errors on both sides of the ball.


When Schmidt and Ryan got involved selections became far more consistent and the game plan far simpler and the dividends were instant, and they accepted bad performances as part of building towards the world cup. They were able to distinguish between bad plans and bad execution and by the time the finals rolled around they were playing their best rugby as a team.


Chopping and changing the team each week sends the signal that you don't really know what you are doing or why, and you are just reacting to what happened last week, selecting a team to replay the previous game rather than preparing for the next one and building for the future.

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