Classy Crusaders torture Tahs
4 Mar 2011
RYAN VREDE watched the Crusaders make a statement of intent with a 33-18 victory over the Waratahs in Nelson.
For the first quarter you would have been forgiven for putting your money on the Waratahs for a comfortable victory, such was the Crusaders’ incompetence across all facets of play. However, they showed all the class they’ve become renowned for thereafter, tearing away to victory off the back of an excellent forward display, midfield dominance, a flawless kicking performance from Dan Carter and the desire to bring some cheer, however fleeting, to the earthquake-ravaged city of Christchurch.
The performance was superlative, but ominously, they are likely to get better and can still bank on the return of their inspirational captain Richie McCaw.
The Tahs, so good in the last fortnight, will reflect on this match and cringe. Their early tries came from the Crusaders’ errors, the first birthed from a scrum earned when Sonny Bill Williams, who started awfully but improved exponentially as the match progressed, threw a wild pass at Carter who knocked on. The second emanated from a Luke Burgess turnover, the scrumhalf then rounding off the move in the corner after an expansive attack and slick passing interchange.
However, that was as good as it got for the visitors, who were let down badly by replacement flyhalf Daniel Halangahu, in for the injured Berrick Barnes. Halangahu missed two conversions and a penalty before he was relieved of the kicking duties, but his nightmare continued when he threw the intercepted pass that gave the dynamic and powerful Robbie Fruean the first of two tries. Fruean’s second was vintage Crusaders, dominating the collisions and offloading skilfully in contact. Williams redeemed himself after his earlier error by deftly picking off Fruean despite the attention of two defenders. Carter kicked the conversion, his second, which followed four penalties, for a 26-13 lead.
Any ambitions of a comeback the Tahs may have haboured were shattered when Williams finished a move that again featured a bulldozing run from his midfield partner, Fruean.
The Tahs were patently distraught. They were being decimated at scrum time, battered at the tackle point and cut to shreds by a backline directed masterfully by Carter, whose centres were brutally efficient. Rarely has a Tahs team been made to look so impotent, so utterly devoid of attacking ideas. Certainly they didn’t help their cause by failing to do the basics well, but their desperation at 20 points down probably had everything to do with that.
There was a late consolation score for Afa Pakalani, but it didn’t plaster over a deeply flawed performance. They were completely outplayed by a team who, if they can replicate this standard consistently, will be very, very hard to beat.
Crusaders - Tries: Robbie Fruean (2), Sonny Bill Williams. Conversions: Dan Carter (3). Penalties: Carter (4)
Waratahs - Tries: Tom Carter, Luke Burgess, Afa Pakalani. Penalties: Kurtley Beale
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208 Comments
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4 Mar 2011, 11:11 am
Out of here now. Catch up later.
Cheers everyone.
4 Mar 2011, 11:12 am
What’s with the women giving the guys a hard time.
The extent of my requirements from a man is to bring me Grouse on demand.
4 Mar 2011, 11:24 am
Scary stuff this! When I saw the headline it sent shivers down my spine. There I was thinking the Tahs were the best in the comp so far…oh hell no! Jeez these okes really are made of steel mentally, to be playing like this after their city was devastated. Credit where its due. I can’t see any of the SA teams troubling the Saders and they just ripped apart the best team in Aus. I can see it being a Saders vs Blues final. Finisn en klaar.
4 Mar 2011, 11:25 am
@Dawn(Dawn)-152:
you sound like you could do with a hard time.
4 Mar 2011, 11:37 am
Yep Saders without MCaw and traditional slow starters makes then now favourites to win
4 Mar 2011, 11:39 am
@rangerman(rangerman)-148:
Actually we call them crayfish as well, you don’t have to dive deep in NZ to get decent crays, the diving back home is superb, a little cold but clear and clean, an abundance of scallops, paua, mussels and sea fish I often ask myself what the fark im doing in China.
4 Mar 2011, 11:39 am
@KevinRack(KevinRack)-155:
Steady on Kev its early days mate.
4 Mar 2011, 11:41 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-156:
What the fark are you doing in China?
4 Mar 2011, 11:41 am
Red or green crays
4 Mar 2011, 11:46 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-156:
Fish market, they have the best anyway.
In China.
4 Mar 2011, 11:46 am
University of the Western Cape (UWC) head coach Deon Davids has been snapped up by the Golden Lions Rugby Union as coach of their Vodacom Cup and Under-21 teams.
Roar my beautiful Lions, roar!
4 Mar 2011, 11:48 am
@KevinRack(KevinRack)-159:
Both, the green are the pack horses and some of them can be huge.
4 Mar 2011, 11:49 am
@MTN RedLion Roars…(RL)-161: Nnooooooo. I want U-dubs to qualify for the varsity cup. Wait when is he leaving?
4 Mar 2011, 11:50 am
@Dawn(Dawn)-160:
Im 2000 km from the sea no fresh stuff here, unless some goverment guy takes you out and then the skies the limit.
4 Mar 2011, 11:51 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-158:
Wife and twins
4 Mar 2011, 11:51 am
Congrats Crusaders! I hope this helps to lift the spirits of the great people of Christchurch! Good luck to all!
4 Mar 2011, 11:51 am
@MTN RedLion Roars…(RL)-161: Decent signing.
4 Mar 2011, 12:05 pm
indeed iori, indeed. Rassie was caught sleeping, I guess he likes coaching the WP under 21 team himself. WPians you get to keep Chester Williams and Loffie in the Cape.
University of the Western Cape (UWC) head coach Deon Davids has been snapped up by the Golden Lions Rugby Union as coach of their Vodacom Cup and Under-21 teams.
Davids, who – up until now – has been in charge of UWC in the inaugural Varsity Shield, will join former Bulls age-group coach Nico Serfontein at the helm of the Lions’ Vodacom Cup side.
Davids is no stranger to top-level coaching, having been in charge of the Boland Currie Cup team in 2009. He was replaced in that job by Chester Williams, who suffered a string of poor results in the position and was, in turn, replaced by former Lions coach Eugene Eloff.
The former UWC mentor had his side playing some exciting, running rugby in the inaugural Varsity Shield – something that he feels will be encouraged by the rest of the coaching staff at the Lions.
As things stand now, UWC are in third place on the Varsity Shield log – six points behind the second-placed FNB CUT and eight points behind the top-placed FNB Wits side. A play-off spot is not out of the question yet, but the loss of Davids will be a big blow to the Western Cape outfit.
Although he has been with the union for a couple of days only, Davids is already clearly excited about working with high-pedigree coaches – such as former All Blacks boss John Mitchell and his assistant, former New Zealand Test flyhalf Carlos Spencer.
“It’s only my first week, but we have had some interesting talks already regarding their vision and philosophy about the game.
“I think that it’s something that I can identify with and I’m looking forward to being involved here,” he told rugby365.com.
Golden Lions Rugby Union CEO Manie Reynecke explained that the plan was that Davids and Serfontein would coach the Vodacom Cup side together for the interim, after which Serfontein would move on to a different role within the union developing their structures.
He told rugby365.com: “We have to expand our coaching corps; it is part of our long-term strategy and fits in with our structures that we are developing.
“Obviously he (Davids) comes with a decent track record, so we are happy to have him involved here,” he added.
By Michael de Vries
4 Mar 2011, 12:12 pm
@MTN RedLion Roars…(RL)-168: The Lions are setting up great structures.
4 Mar 2011, 12:20 pm
@MTN RedLion Roars…(RL)-168: Tacitus won’t like this…
4 Mar 2011, 12:26 pm
if the lions lose again this weekend it will be how many games in a row?
4 Mar 2011, 12:30 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-160:
I went to a seafood disco last night ………. and pulled a mussel.
4 Mar 2011, 12:32 pm
@Panache ( òó /) Aplomb(Panache and Aplomb)-172:
it might have been worse.
you could have gone home with crabs.
4 Mar 2011, 12:38 pm
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-171: my boi, tell daddy red what’s the highest you have ever counted without the use of your fingers and toes?
4 Mar 2011, 12:43 pm
@MTN RedLion Roars…(RL)-174:
well I didn’t think it was that bad.
more red ***** on the braai this weekend
keep them structures coming
4 Mar 2011, 12:45 pm
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-173: If you find yourself thinking you cod have danced all night that’s a moray.
4 Mar 2011, 12:50 pm
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-175: well if it gets really bad you can always use your little muir as an extra pinky to help with the counting.
4 Mar 2011, 12:51 pm
@kaksioek(kaksioek)-176:
sadly I got thrown out by the bouncer for being a grouper…
4 Mar 2011, 12:53 pm
@MTN RedLion Roars…(RL)-177:
fortunately I have very fat fingers.
which is why mrs redlion always has a smile on her face
4 Mar 2011, 12:54 pm
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-171: If the Bulls supporters accidentally beat their wives again this weekend, how many in a row would that be?
4 Mar 2011, 12:56 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-180:
do we have a history of wife beating?
I didn’t get the memo.
4 Mar 2011, 12:57 pm
@kaksioek(kaksioek)-176: Ha ha, very good. But still a few rungs short of the best line in Finding Nemo – “With fronds like these, who needs anemones?”
4 Mar 2011, 13:03 pm
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-181: It’s all accidental, of course, and certainly won’t fly in court. The defence attorney simply whips out The Formula – 2(klippies) squared x the square root of the ref + a request to turn down the sound = an irresistible force – and the judge throws it out quicker than a Shaik parole hearing.
4 Mar 2011, 13:05 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-183:
4 Mar 2011, 13:07 pm
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-175: eeeeew the mrs rl is actually 7 year old pitbull terrier named Pumba, after that hog in the Lion King, I guess that explains the funny walk … eeeew Gunther, eeew.
4 Mar 2011, 13:11 pm
@MTN RedLion Roars…(RL)-185:
mrs redlion is a bull terrier?
punda?
an easy mistake to make.
I guess what you save on shoes and handbags you lose on foodbills.
fighting over the remote can’t be that fun either.
4 Mar 2011, 13:13 pm
Hmmm…. only the Bulls, Sharks, Stormers and Highlanders are undefeated now.
If all goes right, the only undefeated sides after this week will be South African, and all three will be at the top of the table.
4 Mar 2011, 13:18 pm
@MTN RedLion Roars…(RL)-174: You cant count the number of consecutive Lions losses on your fingers anyway, you will need toes as well and if they lose tonight, it will be onto the last foot with only 4 toes left.
Lets hope the Lions don’t lose tonight. As said here last week, losing to local opposition is one thing, but in the format of the current competition, the Cheetahs and Lions being the whipping boys of the antipodean boys puts pressure on the genuine contestants in the South African conference.
So – please Lions – don’t lose this one. Try not to screw this one up.
4 Mar 2011, 13:21 pm
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-187: The Sharks have such a bad record in Australia. I am a bit nervous for the Western Force game.
You know the Sharks have the most Super rugby wins of any South African franchise over the history of Super rugby, but – they have won the least number of games against Australian opposition of any team.
So – a bit nervous for this weekend.
Best though is the Lions mustn’t lose to the Blues. If the Bulls beat the Highlanders all is still well.
4 Mar 2011, 13:59 pm
@kaksioek(kaksioek)-176: GOOD ONE
4 Mar 2011, 14:36 pm
bulls men beating their wives are very common behaviour just as it is them normally marrying their sisters.
4 Mar 2011, 14:41 pm
great victory for the mighty crusaders!nothing can compensate for the death and destruction but this will at least put a smile on the faces of the citizens of christchurch.well done boys.keep up the good work and smash the overrated sharks as well.
4 Mar 2011, 14:56 pm
@capo(capo)-192: Are you a kiwi? If the Sharks are overrated then so must be the Stormers who only just scraped a win against a bottom feeder team.
4 Mar 2011, 15:03 pm
@JR – The Real Make The Circle Bigger(JayDaFiveOh)-193: we are not discussing the stormers here now,but the mighty crusaders!how many super titles have the crusaders won compared to the sharks?if you can answer that question honestly i then believe your mind will be expanded in terms of the meaning of the word ‘overrated’.
4 Mar 2011, 15:12 pm
The Sharks are overwhelming favourites to win the saffa conference.
4 Mar 2011, 15:16 pm
@capo(capo)-194: what about the answer to “are you a kiwi?”
4 Mar 2011, 15:17 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-195: did you cut and paste that from your last posts?
4 Mar 2011, 15:17 pm
@foreverrugga(foreverrugga)-196: are you jr’s spokesperson?
4 Mar 2011, 15:18 pm
@foreverrugga(foreverrugga)-197: buz’ entanyeni uba umqala awuthethi!
4 Mar 2011, 15:35 pm
@capo(capo)-198: no but are you a kiwi?
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