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'Like they had our playbook': Crusaders reveal title-winning lineout secret
If the Blues were to have any chance of besting the Crusaders at Eden Park in Saturday’s Super Rugby Pacific final, they needed to start by at least getting the basics right at the set-piece.
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So often a strength for the Auckland-based side this year, the Blues have become known for their strong set-piece thanks to the presence of a number of All Blacks in the pack coupled with some seasoned pros running the lineout.
It wasn’t to be, however, with the Blues’ scrum and lineout falling to pieces against a hungry Crusaders unit that never failed to challenge Blues ball and disrupt possesion.
The Blues finished the match with just a 47 per cent success rate at lineout time, conceding 10 of their 19 deliveries against the head. While the scrum looked to have the upper hand in the first half, any semblance of dominance caved in the final quarter after some exceptional work from Crusaders replacements Tamaiti Williams and Fletcher Newell, who well and truly got the better of the far more experienced combo of All Blacks Karl Tu’inukuafe and Ofa Tuungafasi.
“We obviously encountered a very good Crusaders side that piled on a lot of pressure and we just weren’t able to get our game going, which was hugely frustrating,” said Blues coach Leon MacDonald following the eventual 21-7 defeat.
“They were able to steal a lot of our lineout ball, they put pressure on at the scrum and the breakdown – three key areas to winning any game, let alone a final.
“We were unable to play the way we wanted to play and they have obviously been in a few finals and they knew how to do it well, and they did.”
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Stand-in Blues captain and first five-eighth Beauden Barrett added that without any regular front-foot ball, it was difficult for his side to really build into the match.
“They certainly had a strategy to sort us out at set-piece time, they certainly put us under a lot of pressure and spoiled our tempo and flow that we like to play,” he said.
“It was frustrating we couldn’t get into our game and whenever we did get going, it was sort of not on our terms. We were forced to make a bit of stuff up.
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“We’ve got to give them credit. Their defence was impressive and good enough to win it tonight.”
Such was the lineout dominance – with the likes of hookers Kurt Eklund and Soane Vikena, and number one lineout target Tom Robinson all struggling under pressure from the magnificent Sam Whitelock – that MacDonald mused it was almost as if the Crusaders knew their calls and strategies right from the get-go.
“They got up like they had our playbook,” he said. “They were reading our plays and causing a lot of trouble there. We tried variations and we just weren’t able to get quality ball to launch off.
“The scrum was sort of similar too, really. We had some dominance for a little bit and then they were able to come back and apply dominance.”
Crusaders captain Scott Barrett revealed that his side had always planned to try disrupt the Blues’ ball – especially thanks to the wet weather forecast for Saturday night – and that his troops had put in some extra work during the week in order to get the upper hand over their northern rivals.
“Finals footy is a game about pressure and that’s something we talked about this week,” he said following the victory. “If we could pressure their set-piece – their scrum was dominant at times, particularly throughout this season, and we had to muscle up there – and at the lineout, we saw a few opportunities there if we could just get up in the air, [especially with] greasy ball, we could accumulate some pressure and we did that pretty well.
“I think we had a clear plan. We put a lot of time into it, meeting on the day off and throwing out ideas with (reserve lock) Quinten Strange and (forwards coach) Jason Ryan behind the scenes and putting a lot of work into that. We got the reward tonight, which was pleasing.”
The Crusaders scored two tries to the Blues’ one, with flyhalf Richie Mo’unga adding 11 points off the tee courtesy of a conversion, two penalties and a drop goal. While the Blues’ late score to Finlay Christie (off the back of a Crusaders error at the back of a scrum deep inside their own 22) gave the Blues some semblance of hope, the Crusaders eventually snuffed it out and finished up as deserved – and comprehensive – winners.
The Blues clearly struggled to penetrate with the ball in hand – not once heading into the final had they scored fewer than two tries in any game throughout the season – but the matter of the fact was that they had few opportunities to build momentum, few opportunities to test out the Crusaders’ defence and few opportunities to really put up much of a contest against the red and black machine thanks to their continual struggles at the set-piece.
MacDonald summed up the match nicely:
“10 missed lineouts is hard to live off. It’s as simple as that really.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Had hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
6 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
28 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
83 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
83 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
4 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
28 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
4 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
4 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
6 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
6 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
6 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
28 Go to comments