Ken Laban's not wrong about the Mo'unga-less Crusaders

I wholeheartedly agree with Ken Laban.

The veteran television commentator cast doubt upon the Crusaders’ Super Rugby Pacific title-winning credentials due to the absence of an accomplished playmaker.

They team had one in recent years, in Richie Mo’unga, but don’t boast anyone of his quality now.

Saturday’s clash between the Crusaders and Chiefs left me a bit flat. Nothing wrong with the game itself, especially the Chiefs’ contribution.

It was more a case that I came to the conclusion that the Chiefs have no real challenger this season.

I had doubted the Chiefs. I had felt they didn’t have the defensive discipline to win when it counted.

That, at least in theory, still remains to be seen. We’re not at the playoff stage, after all. But if anyone was going to offer a credible championship alternative this year, I felt it would be the Crusaders. I’m not sure that I do now.

Control from the first five-eighth is an issue, but I’d probably broaden the issue a bit from what Laban said.

The Crusaders are hugely profligate as a team. They turn the ball over so softly, they kick without purpose, and they don’t have the ability to defend their plentiful mistakes.

The teams Mo’unga played in didn’t do that. Those sides fed off your indiscipline at the breakdown, they scored points from your dropped passes.

Mo’unga ensured the Crusaders played at the right end, he kicked a lot of goals and he was expert at turning opposition errors into clinical counterattacks.

Of course, the Crusaders are nowhere near as good without him, but the difference wouldn’t be so marked if the whole team were better at looking after the football.

The thing I always admired about Crusaders sides of yore was how risk-free their rugby was. They dismantled opposition set-pieces, demoralised playmakers and won games through defence.

I just don’t think they know how to do that anymore. That saddens and even perplexes me. I’ve been a huge admirer of that franchise’s ruthless efficiency and can’t understand why they insist on putting themselves under pressure by
making so many errors in possession.

We’ll see about the Chiefs. They were genuinely excellent on Saturday and basically did a Crusaders on the Crusaders.

The only mountain they have left to climb is delivering when it really counts. For the others, where there’s life, there’s hope.

The Crusaders could still revert to the rugby that’s characterised their historic success. The Hurricanes are getting steadily better, and then there’s the Blues.

They’ve underwhelmed this year, but sit fifth on the table and have as much talent as anyone, including a noted playmaker in Beauden Barrett. I’ve been critical of them at times, but I wouldn’t entirely discount them.

That’s the beauty of sport and knockout rugby in particular.

The sooner we get to the sudden death phase of this competition, the better.