Saders edge Hamilton epic
6 Jul 2012
RYAN VREDE reports on a compelling spectacle in which the Crusaders survived a late onslaught to win 28-21 against the Chiefs in Hamilton.
This match lacked for nothing, purists and thrill-seekers alike having plenty to satisfy their respective tastes. An excellent advertisement for Super Rugby and a showcase of everything that is great about New Zealand rugby, this match kept you riveted until the very end, where the Saders’ refusal to allow their determined opponents a path to goal was heroic.
Brutal collisions, breathtaking individual and collective skills, appreciable tactical intelligence, resillience and passion, bags of it, this match made you wish the suits at Sanzar would put aside commercial interests and personal aspirations and reduce the number of teams in the tournament, pitting only the strongest teams against each other so that these types of showcases become more commonplace, not rare gems in an otherwise barren landscape.
That fanciful idea aside, the Saders did much to advance their cause for a play-off spot. This was always going to be the measure of their credentials and establish whether they are genuine contenders or just posturing pretenders. There can be no question now that they have all the attributes of champions. If they realise that goal it will have to be through a number of away wins like this one, but you wouldn’t bet against them.
Chiefs flyhalf Aaron Cruden nearly got his side off to the perfect start when he broke free early in the match, only to be scragged short of the tryline. The youngster’s transition from a talented but raw pivot into a truly world-class one is progressing nicely. Experience will refine him, but he is already a formidable opponent and indispensable asset to his franchise.
He got the scoreboard going with a penalty, but the Saders dominated for a large period thereafter, feeding off numerous Chiefs errors. The hosts look back at that passage as being decisive to the outcome.
Dan Carter banked a penalty to level the scores and soon thereafter converted a Kieran Read try in which they kept the ball alive brilliantly through multiple phases. Cruden responded with a penalty, but Carter’s experience told when he dropped a goal to keep the Saders ahead.
The visitors stretched their lead to 14 points when Andy Ellis broke blind and put in a delicate grubber which rebounded off a Chiefs player into the path of Luke Ramano. The second rower scooped the loose ball up and drove over the chalk, Carter adding the extras.
But the Chiefs refused to be steamrolled, and rebounded from the Saders’ flurry with a counter of their own, Brodie Retallick powering over from close range. Cruden’s conversion was the last score of the half, the Saders leading 20-16.
There was an unrelenting urgency and intensity about both sides after the break, Ellis scoring a contentious try but the Chiefs again coming up with a telling rebuttal – Sonny Bill Williams negotiating the attention of four defenders and, clutching the ball in one hand, he reached desperately over a mass of bodies to score.
The Chiefs had opportunities to cut into the Saders’ lead, but a combination of poor decision making in good positions, a misfiring lineout and inspiring scrambling on defence denied them. They would also have hoped for a strong bench to galvanise them, and although you could not fault those players’ effort, the Saders’ mettle under pressure came to the fore to deny their determined opponents.
There was a golden opportunity with the siren having sounded, the Chiefs having created a two-man overlap. But Williams failed to pass the ball, instead going in search of his second. The play broke down and referee Steve Walsh ended a captivating contest.
574 Comments
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6 Jul 2012, 15:30 pm
wow good on you son you have a great night out
6 Jul 2012, 15:31 pm
Then perhaps a few quiet ones.
Up the coast tomorrow for some R and R.
And you?
Apart from keo of course.
6 Jul 2012, 15:31 pm
The best game, International or otherwise, this year. Top drawer code from both sides, pillar to post.
6 Jul 2012, 15:32 pm
@XhosaKid(XhosaKid)-387:
spot on, xhosakid.
somedays i really pray we will leave this comp.
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-392:
well, you are right
the unholy trinity of bryce, walsh and the crusaders have pushed me into the zone.
if only they didnt cheat as much and/are as incompetent
i’d be a better man
6 Jul 2012, 15:33 pm
July is a very busy time for me so very quiet, will be tripping around in August so it can wait.
6 Jul 2012, 15:35 pm
@galileo, roundness, union, coach…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-404:
Bryce should go, we can all agree on that one.
6 Jul 2012, 15:36 pm
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-406: So now he must go, the hatchet job he did on the Boks?
6 Jul 2012, 15:37 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-398:
i really, really want that
with all my heart
i dont like this comp at all, in fact it disgusts me most days
i want to go back to a full strength cc and international tours for the boks, incoming or outgoing or a bit of both.
6 Jul 2012, 15:38 pm
@galileo, roundness, union, coach…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-404: @NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-406: is this an apt description of this game’s ending?
from stuff.co.nz
“At 25-21, with Cruden missing the conversion, it was anyone’s game. But again it was the Crusaders’ set-piece that grabbed a stranglehold on the game going into the final 10 minutes and the Chiefs were forced to play the game in their own territory.
When they finally emerged to attack for the last five minutes, including well after the final hooter, it was the Crusaders’ defence that held.
One overlap was ignored when replacement hooker Hika Elliot went on his own and then some blatant offside at the end by an otherwise outstanding Richie McCaw after a string of penalties and taps was ignored this time by Walsh and he blew for fulltime when play came to a halt.
6 Jul 2012, 15:39 pm
@XhosaKid(XhosaKid)-340:
@XhosaKid(XhosaKid)-346:
well said, sir
i can assure you i will be penning a letter to saru on the weekend.
6 Jul 2012, 15:40 pm
@XhosaKid(XhosaKid)-407:
he did a hatchet job on the BIL in 09′ as well, he’s not a good ref but lets not blame him for your early 1/4 exit with 75% territory and possession you fucke d that one up all on your own
6 Jul 2012, 15:40 pm
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-406:
thanks china,
i apreciate you saying so.
6 Jul 2012, 15:41 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-409:
honestly, the gall of these people.
wow!
is all i can say
wow!
6 Jul 2012, 15:43 pm
Busy for you?
On keo you mean?
6 Jul 2012, 15:44 pm
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-411: now, on the same thread this possession has reduced to “75%” hehehehe i’ll have some of your greentea
6 Jul 2012, 15:44 pm
Neck and neck tennis
6 Jul 2012, 15:44 pm
I have a plan for Bryce.
He can start a gameshow in which contestants secretly make bids to buy the outcomes of games in which he is the ref. These bids are fed to him through his earpiece while the game is being played, and he must swing the outcome based on what he thinks the final bid will be. Fiercely contested bidding wars can make for some interesting swings in the game, and some seriously odd calls towards the closing stages.
(Although probably not odder than we already see with him)
We’ll call it “The Bryce is Right”.
6 Jul 2012, 15:46 pm
yip you’re right, I do some of my best work on KEO in July
6 Jul 2012, 15:48 pm
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-411:
do yourself, and us, a favour and watch that game again.
have a beer and just try to be as open minded as possible to a game of rugby, nothing more nor less.
we farked nothing up
we got farked
certainly by bryce and perhaps on a bigger ‘conspiracy’ scale even by the whole nzru/nz big heads.
one of the most distasteful and shocking games of rugby i’ve ever seen, on the basis of the refereeing.
6 Jul 2012, 15:48 pm
@XhosaKid(XhosaKid)-158:
Which was the same logic that SANZAR partners Aus & NZ applied to RWC revenue in future, earning the wrath of the IRB and World audience, as SA looked silently on.
And which SA has now massively benefitted from.
6 Jul 2012, 15:48 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-415:
lol im drinking some now, the exact stats i’m unsure off, what I do know though is that you had plenty and they had fuckall, the Bokke and nobody else lost that game
6 Jul 2012, 15:49 pm
And Federer ahead by a nosehair
6 Jul 2012, 15:49 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-417:
love it
6 Jul 2012, 15:49 pm
@galileo, roundness, union, coach…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-419:
rewatch the Ab’s in SA 76′ you’ll choke on your billtong
6 Jul 2012, 15:52 pm
@The Donkeys Egg(The Donkeys Egg)-420:
massively?
how much?
small change to what we give you no doubt
6 Jul 2012, 15:52 pm
Federer to win and take out that bucktoothed mommy’s boy on Sunday
6 Jul 2012, 15:52 pm
Your ref is actually quoted as saying ” yes but you don’t have to live here after the series”
6 Jul 2012, 15:55 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-417:
http://thebryceisright.net/
6 Jul 2012, 15:57 pm
@The Donkeys Egg(The Donkeys Egg)-420:
Good let’s apply it to Sanzar thank you.
6 Jul 2012, 15:59 pm
Like some of the views on here, I have always been FOR the party that gets rid of Super RuIgby, I’ve always preferred the NPC to Super Rugby. I’m old school, full rugby tours and the RWC will have more meaning to it. Australia should start its own domestic comp too
6 Jul 2012, 16:03 pm
Roger two sets up and breaks serve in the 4th. Just has to hold his serve from here on to make the final.
Go Roger.
6 Jul 2012, 16:05 pm
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-428: That site is quite kak. My gameshow will blow him out the water.
6 Jul 2012, 16:08 pm
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-427:
would you say it was some of the most distasteful and shocking games of rugby you have ever seen, on the basis of the refereeing?
@CSI:Rugby(CSI:Rugby)-430:
absolutely yes,
nz and aus will have issues wrt funding themselves though but i suppose the lower costs would help out in that regard.
6 Jul 2012, 16:09 pm
Go Roger.
Best South African tennis player since Wayne Ferreira.
6 Jul 2012, 16:13 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-434: Probably since Kevin Curren.
6 Jul 2012, 16:18 pm
One day we’ll return here,
When the Fat Maori sings again
When the Fat Maori sings again
Come back Japie, you’ve been gone a while
And the war is raging, in the Shakey Isle
That’s flesh and blood man, that’s flesh and blood
All the girls are crying but all’s not lost
The stadia are empty, the stadia are cold
Won’t you come on home, won’t you come on home
The stadia are empty
Life goes on
6 Jul 2012, 16:19 pm
Who can forget Kevvie?
Was it Ivan Lendl who blew him away at Wimbers?
6 Jul 2012, 16:20 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-434:
He needs to hold serve here to go up 5/3 he should have broken serve in the last game was up 40 love just to lose that game.
6 Jul 2012, 16:23 pm
@Puma(Puma)-438: meant 5/2
6 Jul 2012, 16:25 pm
Roger just needs to hold serve now to go through to the final.
Go Roger.
6 Jul 2012, 16:25 pm
Johan Kriek.
Winner of 2 grand Slam Singles titles.
Aus open 81 & 81.
No South African has ever done that.
6 Jul 2012, 16:27 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-435:
He cant be serious
6 Jul 2012, 16:27 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-441:
I don’t think it is possible for anyone to win the same slam twice in one year, nevermind Kriek.
81 and 82, maybe?
6 Jul 2012, 16:28 pm
No other South African I meant to say.
Semi Finalist French and US
Quarters at Wimbledon.
Pretty good stuff I’d say.
Nocak not going gently.
6 Jul 2012, 16:28 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-441:
In the same year.
Unprecedented
6 Jul 2012, 16:28 pm
@willievz(willievz)-443: Yes sorry.
match point.
6 Jul 2012, 16:30 pm
The Fed does it again.
Big advantage for the finals.
6 Jul 2012, 16:32 pm
Two Australian Opens on one year?
That’s f.uckin’. awesome.
Not even Fed can beat that.
6 Jul 2012, 16:33 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-437: Boris Boom Boom, wasn’t it?
6 Jul 2012, 16:34 pm
Ja ja ja ja
81 & 82,
2 Grand slams.
In fact 14 Career singles and 8 doubles titles.
Not too shabby Nige.
Take that Wayne.
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