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Why the Crusaders still deserve to be SR favourites despite shock loss
You’ve probably heard it before and you’ll hear it again: it’s a marathon, not a sprint. The sports adage is used by fans and pundits during the early stages of competitions around the world.
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Following a scintillating opening round of Super Rugby Pacific, supporters can’t shy away from this reality.
Defending champions the Crusaders were sensationally overthrown by the Chiefs in front of their home fans on Friday, losing 31-10 at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch.
When the full-time siren sounded, I’m sure the cheers of victory were heard all the way from Hamilton. It was just that type of night for Chiefs fans – it was historic.
The Chiefs’ 21-point drubbing of the champion Crusaders shocked New Zealand – really, it shocked the world – as it flipped the Super Rugby power rankings on its head.
Or did it?
While the Crusaders were clearly dejected following the shock defeat, it’s far too soon to write them off.
– First team to keep the Crusaders to ten points or fewer since 2016.
– Chiefs second biggest win over the Crusaders in Super Rugby history.
– Crusaders fifth biggest home loss in Super Rugby history.
Special performance from the Chiefs. #SuperRugbyPacific #CRUvCHI
ADVERTISEMENT— Tight Five Rugby (@TightFive_Rugby) February 24, 2023
When teams win, expectations are met and the bar is raised even higher. Fans dare to dream over the course of a season, as their passion and vibrance is fuelled by the taste of sweet, sweet victory.
But Super Rugby fans need to wake up and smell the roses; this is the Crusaders we’re talking about.
The Crusaders have won six titles in as many years under Scott Robertson, and showed no signs of slowing down during last year’s 21-7 win over the Blues in the Final.
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If winning is a habit then one loss can’t define a team, especially a team like the Crusaders.
Championship teams aren’t crowned after the opening round of a season, no matter how impressive or eye-catching their display.
The same can be said about the unwanted race for the wooden spoon, or casting aside a great team as nothing more than a mere pretender.
When the Crusaders won their first Super Rugby title in 1998, they were beaten by the Chiefs in the opening round – while it was only a two-point defeat, it was still a loss.
But back to the drawing board they went, and after a frustrating couple of years in Super Rugby, the legendary franchise etched their names into rugby folklore with a title.
And the precedent of opening round losses goes further than that for the successful team.
The Crusaders also reached the Final in 2004, 2005 and 2011 after recovering from slow starts. It happens, and they aren’t the only sports team to have ever bounced back from a slow start.
As reported by The Sporting News last year, three teams have won the Super Bowl after starting their season with two losses from as many games.
The 1993 Dallas Cowboys, Tom Brady’s 2001 New England Patriots, and the 2007 New York Giants were all crowned ‘world champions’ after a disastrous start to their seasons.
While they didn’t win the sport’s most prestigious trophy, another Patriots side in the mid-1990s lost the Super Bowl after an 0-2 start. It can happen.
Moving onto basketball, one of the most famous championship teams of all time rallied from an impossible position to win it all in 2016.
LeBron James famously inspired the Cleveland Cavaliers to a NBA championship after slumping to a 1-3 series record in the Finals against Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors.
While the Crusaders’ one loss is by no means as extreme, it just shows that winners do exactly what they’re known for – and that’s to win.
It is true that the Crusaders are currently travelling through unchartered waters as they prepare for next weekend’s Super Round in Melbourne.
They’ve lost matches before to start their season, but a 21-point defeat is new en route to a title.
But just like Tom Brady’s Patriots and LeBron’s Cavaliers, the Crusaders have an opportunity to prove themselves worthy of the champions moniker once more.
Records are made to be broken.
Their resurgence begins on Friday at 8:00pm NZT when they take on the Highlanders – another team desperate to bounce back.
But the Crusaders will show their class, I’m sure of it. And deep down I think everyone in the rugby community feels the same.
While it’s weird and unusual to see the Crusaders occupying 10th spot on the ladder, Scott Robertson and his team won’t want to stay there long.
Championship teams thrive under pressure. They’ve done it before, and the decorated Super Rugby franchise won’t go down without a fight.
The Chiefs poked the bear on Friday. So be wary of the Crusaders who still deserve to be Super Rugby Pacific favourites.
Don’t forget: it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments