'Look at everything really': Crusaders searching for answers after losing to 'dogged' Waratahs
The Crusaders became the second Kiwi side to go down to an Australian side on a weekend where all the New Zealand sides have been put under pressure.
The Chiefs held off the fast finishing Reds to secure a two point victory 27-25 on Friday night, the Blues were pressured on the way to a 22-18 victory in Perth over the Force and the Highlanders escaped a rampant Drua coming away with a 27-24 win in Suva.
The slow starting Crusaders couldn’t prevent the Waratahs from joining the winner’s circle as they were outplayed from the get go.
The Waratahs raced out to a 17-0 lead at halftime a they controlled proceedings in the slippery conditions on a dewy night at a packed Leichhardt Oval and closed out a 24-21 win, their first since 2019 over the Crusaders.
“We were on the back foot straight away, fourteen points down under a lot of pressure,” Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson said.
“A lot of simple stuff we proud ourselves on, we didn’t get right. They got a lot of momentum.
“In the last 20, we got plenty of opportunities and still didn’t finish.”
Of concern was the way the Crusaders started for the second week in a row. They were slow out of the gate against the Rebels in Melbourne, struggling to a 7-3 halftime lead before exploding in the second half.
It was a similar story this week but the Waratahs were good enough to shut them out completely heading into the sheds which proved too much to overcome in the second forty minutes.
Head coach Scott Robertson admitted the side is looking for answers themselves and they would need to look at ‘everything’ to turn things around before they head into the finals.
“We are looking for the answer ourselves, to be fair,” he said.
“We had a really good week, connected, good mindset, we know playing Aussie teams are a little bit different, how desperate they are, they are a dogged side the Waratahs.
“They put us under that pressure cycle that we just couldn’t quite get out of.
“How do we get better? We are going to have to have honesty, look at our week, look at everything really.
“Because it’s all there, we just have to complete some stuff.”
Crusaders captain Codie Taylor said that the loss mirrored the last time they were undone by the Waratahs in 2019, with similar conditions challenging the visitors which they didn’t adapt well enough too.
“I think the last two losses we’ve had against them it has been the same conditions around the weather and us not starting well,” Taylor said.
“They played really well to the conditions, they got that try straight away, they controlled the ruck really well, put the ball in the air and made it 50-50s.
“When it is dewy, even though it wasn’t raining, that’s the sort of game that if you don’t nail those little moments, you are straight under pressure.
“That was it in the first half.
“We struggled to get a roll on, then came out in the second half and got a couple shots but just didn’t finish.
“The Tahs played well and took their opportunities and they obviously wanted it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments