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Rival coach insists Crusaders are ‘the only team that knows how to win’
The Crusaders forged an unprecedented legacy of seven tiles in as many years under former coach Scott Robertson. While the champion prepares to usher in a new dawn without departing stars, the Crusaders might still be the team to beat in Super Rugby Pacific 2024.
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With new coach Rob Penney at the helm, the Crusaders are intent on extending their era of dominance to a staggering eighth year. Success is ingrained into their culture and team ethos.
Beating the Lions in Johannesburg back in 2017 was a fateful night for rugby in the southern hemisphere, with coach Robertson celebrating the first of many titles with a trademark breakdance at Ellis Park.
But nobody expected what was to come. The Crusaders have been dominant, relentless and passionate in their pursuit of glory that may never be replicated.
The Blues winning the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman title at Eden Park in 2021 is the only blip on the Crusaders’ practically perfect era of success.
Some may dare to write the Crusaders off ahead of 2024 as they prepare for a new era without Richie Mo’unga, Sam Whitelock and Scott Robertson, but rival coach Clark Laidlaw isn’t one of them.
“I think ultimately they’re the only team that knows how to win it over the last seven years,” Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw told The Platform.
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“I think I’ve tried to work out how many rugby players in the country (not) with the Crusaders know what it takes to win Super Rugby, and maybe Brad Shields and TJ Perenara – I was trying to think if there’s any other players or any other team that have actually won Super Rugby.
“We’ve all got the same goal, we all think at this stage of the season that we’re good enough to get to the playoffs and win but ultimately the Crusaders are a team that knows how to.
“A lot of our attention is obvious; is to prepare well and connect well and train bloody hard, but ultimately can we build a game that can deliver in the back end of the season is the challenge for all of us.
“I’m sure their experience and the knowledge that the playing group will get will still make them one of the teams to beat.”
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Before the Crusaders’ dynastic period of dominance, the Hurricanes were the last team to celebrate Super Rugby glory in the streets of Wellington.
With the rain pouring in sideways at the Cake Tin as Wellingtonians watched on in awe as a masterful performance from Beauden Barrett delivered the first Super Rugby title to the Kiwi capital.
But the Hurricanes haven’t close, really, in the years since. Other than the Blues, no team has as the Crusaders took control of the competition like never before.
With a new boss at the helm in former All Blacks Sevens coach Laidlaw, the Canes have set their sights on a home semi-final as they look to etch their names into the history books.
“If you aim for a home semi-final it gives you a real fighting chance to go on and win it,” Laidlaw added.
“First things first you’ve got to be in the playoffs – you’ve got to win enough games to get in there and then you’re just three games away from winning it. We know that.
“We also know that history would suggest it’s bloody difficult to win away from home… it made the Crusaders achievement last year and the time they won t in South Africa was winning away from home.
“We’re aware of that… we need to start well.
“The real focus is how do we get into those two Australian games really well prepared to try and come back and we know that Kiwi derbies are the games that ultimately make the difference between a home semi or not, or a home playoff game or not.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
84 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
2 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
5 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
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