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Super Rugby Aotearoa: Crusaders player ratings vs Highlanders
Knowing the title was within their grasp with a victory this afternoon, Crusaders coach Scott Robertson selected a match day 23 bristling with All Black experience and youth looking to push for such selection.
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Befittingly, the Crusaders who have dominated Super Rugby over the decades ,were the inaugural Super Rugby Aotearoa champions taking the match 32-22.
The Highlanders, though, made them work for it and for the majority of the match appeared the better team, but like the champions they are, the Crusaders found another gear and took the game away from Highlanders in the final 20 minutes to secure yet another trophy in the cabinet that holds many.
How RugbyPass rated the Crusaders.
15. Will Jordan – 7.5/10
No tries for the electrifying Jordan today but he had his hand in plenty. Looked threatening in the earlier stages but was well marked up on, yet as soon as there was space early in the second half, he exploited it and worked unselfishly with George Bridge to break Highlanders hearts.
14. Sevu Reece – 7.5/10
Was threatening throughout. He kept his depth and width when required but also knew when to come in closer to secure possession or support the play. Quality performance.
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13. Braydon Ennor – 7/10
Made a few mistakes and appeared lost in the first half, but found his way into the match with some quality involvements and was rewarded with a try for his efforts at the death.
12. Jack Goodhue – 8/10
Heart and soul of that Crusaders backline. Whilst there were errors, in context to how much work he did both on and off the ball, these errors are absolutely excusable. Is there a harder working 12 in the game?
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11. George Bridge – 8/10
Mr Consistency delivers again, and again. Not much gets past him, but he gets past many. Scored two tries as a result of work done for him but he needed to be there and he was. A winger anyone would want in their side.
10. Richie Mo’unga – 8.5/10
Hard to leave out of the All Blacks as a starting 10 with yet another dominant performance. If he wasn’t taking on the line, he was guiding his team around and keeping them in the match with his option taking. Got a good look at Shannon Frizzell’s elbow when he was ‘speed bumped’ late in the second half but there is no disgrace in that.
Amazing piece of defence from Highlanders' wing Josh McKay. #CRUvHIG #SuperRugbyAotearoa https://t.co/II760cnOiG
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 9, 2020
9. Bryn Hall – 6.5/10
A hero and a villain. His service was crisp and threatening that set up the Crusaders’ first try by passing across the face down the short side to an unmarked Sevu Reece. A pass of beauty. And like all quality half-backs he backed up on the inside to assist. Yet, when doing exactly that later in the match with the try line in sight, poor ball security allowed the late finishing Josh McKay to chop the ball out of his grasp, bombing a certain five-pointer.
8. Whetukamokamo Douglas – 7/10
Big game in defence and in the tight. Probably doesn’t get the plaudits he deserves for the unspectacular work he does. But that work is so vital for his team.
7. Tom Christie – 7/10
One of the Crusaders’ best early in the match when they were under serious pressure. After being down 0-7 and the Highlanders threatening deep on the attack, Christie secured a turnover that surely prevented his side going to 0-14. Worked himself and was guilty of some unintelligent play later in the match but has future All Black written all over him.
6. Tom Sanders – 6/10
Not the Colonel’s best day out. To his credit he brought intent, yet slippery fingers contributed to some handling errors, in particular a knock on when on the attack in the Highlanders 22. A Court-Martialling offence.
5. Quinten Strange – 6/10
Plenty to both like and dislike in his performance. Caused the Highlanders some issues in the lineout and had some quality involvements in possession and pinched a turnover but was guilty of missing a few tackles.
4. Sam Whitelock – 7/10
Got caught out in defence early in the match that lead to the Highlanders’ first try. Gave away a few silly errors but like the legend he is was instrumental in just getting his side back to some basic rugby and worked himself for the cause despite a poor pass that lead to a Highlanders intercept. He’s still got it.
3. Michael Alaalatoa – 6/10
Bit quite today ‘Big Mike’. Did his bit in the set piece and came off the line well but wasn’t his best performance today, but it was enough.
2. Codie Taylor – 7.5/10
A warrior performance. Despite some uncharacteristic errors, his efforts be it a turnover, a bullocking run or a dominant tackle, kept the Crusaders in the match when his side were in trouble. Quality shift.
1. Joe Moody – 6/10
Only 15 minutes for ‘Big Joe’ yet during that time he made several uncharacteristic mistakes be it ball handling or discipline yet he worked himself hard in that short performance prior to sustaining a neck injury.
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Replacements:
16. Andrew Makalio – 6 /10
Was guilty of an over throw deep on the attack which is blot in his page but had some impact when his side needed it.
17. George Bower – 6.5/10
Played more than he would have expected and handled it well. Just did his job as required and didn’t look out of place with more minutes at this level.
18. Oliver Jager – N/A
Was poleaxed by Sio Tomkinson and left the field on a stretcher but everyone’s favourite Irishman gave the thumbs up as he was carried off.
19. Luke Romano – 7.5/10
What a finish by the veteran. Brought the impact, knowledge and calmness required to close out this match.
20. Sione Havili – 7.5/10
Best performance this season. Was a real handful when he came on with several damaging runs into the heart of the Highlanders.
21. Mitchell Drummond – 6.5/10
Did his job and gave his back line some good service.
22. Brett Cameron – N/A
23. Leicester Fainga’anuku – N/A
Comments on RugbyPass
Both nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly'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.)
3 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
2 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?
3 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.
3 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 comments