Rob Penney concedes 'something's just not quite right' with Crusaders

Crusaders head coach Rob Penney wasn’t short of answers after his side’s blowout loss to the Brumbies at home, and perhaps most tellingly, he says his players weren’t short of answers in the game, either, but they failed to act on them.

Playing the defending champions at Apollo Projects Stadium has long been one of the most formidable challenges in Super Rugby, and Sunday’s opponent, the Brumbies, were looking to break a 26-year drought in Christchurch.

The visitors’ lead was five in the 58th minute, and even with Charlie Cale’s converted try just shy of the hour-mark, a Leicester Fainga’anuku response after 67 minutes kept the game within reach for the hosts.

But, a late onslaught saw the Brumbies touch down three times in the final eight minutes, ballooning the scoreboard for a 50-24 win.

“Well, it’s pretty brutal,” Penney reacted post-game when asked for his initial thoughts on the contest.

“We started off creating a little bit, and then made errors. So, we just lack a little bit of cohesion—quite a bit of cohesion. And the Brumbies just grew on the back of that, and the last 20 (minutes) was embarrassing, wasn’t it?”

Territory

28%

30%

23%

19%

42%

Territory

58%

The Crusaders had suffered an upset loss in round 1, too, losing a southern derby against the Highlanders in Dunedin. The game featured plenty of errors from Penney’s troops, but given that it was played on the Friday of the opening round and the Brumbies contest wasn’t played until the following Sunday, the team had a longer week than usual to right those wrongs.

Penney said he didn’t see any fatal issues with the week of training, and therefore didn’t expect another error-ridden performance.

“We were training pretty well. Accuracy was up, intensity was right where you wanted it,” he recalled, before returning his attention to the game.

“Our set piece, particularly our lineout, imploded. We had the answers there, but we didn’t call upon them at the right time.

“And that just compounded the pressure that built internally, and from then on, we just couldn’t get any pressure-building moments. So, we stumbled, repeatedly.”

The match featured plenty of Brumbies attack early on, and while the Crusaders’ defence kept them in the game until late, Penney said the volume of tackles required a lot of energy.

“Of course it takes a toll, physically,” he said. “There were some really good efforts and sequences on D there. I’m sure it zapped us a bit.

“But, at half-time, there was no inkling that fatigue was going to be an issue. As I said, we just struggled to put phases together with the ball, and then when we did have the ball, we’d make a mistake and give them an opportunity. It was just one of those vicious cycles we got into.”

The coach also identified his team’s lack of breakdown challenges as another issue that needed to be addressed.

“We didn’t have a strong jackling presence. We were really pleased with our intent and our outcome on the defence side of the ball and around the defensive breakdowns, but we weren’t able to get the ball back; credit to them, I guess, in terms of their ability to recycle.

“There were a couple of times we were probably a wee bit unlucky not to get calls, when boys were on the ball, and just didn’t get the rub of the green. That can happen.

“All in all, there were moments, particularly in the first half. We had to defend so much because we made so many errors; we had an opportunity, then we’d drop it, or spill it.”

With 17 turnovers lost against the Brumbies, after 24 the week before in Dunedin, Penney recognised there’s something off with the team’s performances.

“They’ll be the first ones looking in the mirror; they’ll be really disappointed with themselves. We’re doing a lot of handling at training, and under pressure. So, doing what you’d regard as the right things to try to set ourselves up, but something’s just not quite right at the moment.”