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Scotty Stevenson: The Crusaders won't fear the Ellis Park factor
Home advantage is a very real thing in the history of Super Rugby finals, but the Crusaders don’t mind a road trip, and won’t be worried about being away from home this weekend.
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I hate to break it to you, but I can guarantee the Crusaders are completely okay with playing in Johannesburg this weekend. For starters, it’s damn cold in Christchurch. It’s also wet. So wet the AMI pitch probably won’t dry out until February. No one likes it cold and wet, unless you are talking about a beer. Johannesburg, on the other hand, is decidedly warm this time of year and it hasn’t rained there in winter since 1979. It’s just like a tropical paradise, with skyscrapers and hijackings.
Enough about that, though. We were talking about finals and home advantage and all that. For sure, home advantage seems to be a big deal in Super Rugby. In fact, only on five occasions in the 21 years of Super Rugby has an away team had the temerity to ruin the grand final party. The Crusaders ruined an actual party in 1999, ‘The Party At Tony Brown’s Place’, which, by the way remains the greatest name for a Super Rugby final ever. ‘The Fog Final’, used to describe the debacle between the Crusaders and Hurricanes in 2006, absolutely stinks by comparison. Surely ‘What We Mist’ or ‘The Caper in the Water Vapour’ would have been much better.
Yes, out of 21 finals, only five away teams have ever won. The Bulls did it against the Sharks in 2007 and then climbed the goalposts to celebrate. The Highlanders did it against the Hurricanes in 2015 when Marty F—-n’ Banks kicked a dropped goal. And, as you may have guessed by the tenor of this column, the Crusaders have dibs on the all the others. In fact, they did it for three consecutive seasons, first against the Blues (‘The Blues Cruise’?) in 1998, then at Tony’s place, and finally in Canberra against the Brumbies in 2000.
The Crusaders are the greatest travellers since Captain Cook, before he got what was coming to him. Not only have they thrice rained all over the home side’s parade, they are the only team ever to win a final outside their own nation’s borders. That they somehow stayed awake to achieve the feat in Canberra makes it all the more impressive.
They will have to hurdle a stinking pile of history if they hope to get the win this weekend. No team has ever won a final after crossing the Indian Ocean at any stage of the playoffs. And here we are blaming home town referees and easy draws. The Indian Ocean is the real culprit here. Is there an imaginary Suddenly Shit At Rugby Line that these teams fly through on the way to and from Africa? Kind of like the International Dateline but it’s your form that goes backwards. But if any team is going to spring over the stats, it is the Crusaders.
There are those who would claim that 60,000 screaming Lions fans will be too much for the visitors to handle. Please. Anyone who has ever paid a visit to the Cashel Street KFC at 3:00am on a Saturday morning could tell you there are far more intimidating places than a full Ellis Park. Thirty drunk Cantabrians ordering three-piece quarter packs – now that’s frightening. Besides, the Crusaders have lost just once in Johannesburg in the last four games there. Granted, three of those were played in front of a crowd that consisted solely of a couple of guys named Francois who just happened to remember the Lions were still a thing, but still…
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Scream all you like, the Crusaders love a challenge. They are the Crusaders, after all. They are named after a group of pillaging raiders who loved nothing more than picking fights with people in faraway places.
No, the visitors will be fine at Ellis Park, no matter how big the crowd, how hard the field or how hot the day. Scott Robertson has breathed all new life into this team and they feel they have one punch still to throw. Regardless of how thin the air may be on the High Veldt, the Crusaders’ road tripping finals history will provide all the oxygen this team needs.
I just wish there was a word that rhymed with Ackermann. This final deserves a catchy name.
Comments on RugbyPass
Billy's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to comments