On Saturday night the
Hurricanes took on the Crusaders in Wellington, in what was really a
must-win
The Crusaders were the
under-dogs going into the game, missing captain Richie McCaw through
a rib injury, and explosive outside back Nemani Nadolo, who was on
duty for the Fijian national team. From the start of the game, one
had the sense that the Hurricanes were going to be too strong for the
Crusaders to beat, even with the early losses of Victor Vito (calf)
and Alapati Leiua (ankle).
While the Crusaders
were the dominant team at the set piece, the Hurricanes were powerful
when on defense, and threatening when on attack. Julian Savea was at
his typical best and made a few storming runs which had the crowd on
their feet and screaming. I was very surprised when the final
whistle blew and Savea didn't have a try to his name... or three
tries!
The Hurricanes forwards
were also dominant; Brad Shields in particular, had an impressive
game, forcing turnovers and he stole the ball on more than one
occasion. It was great to see him have a decent stint on the field,
after a season plagued by injuries.
No write-up about the
game would be complete without mentioning Blade Thomson. Not only
was he effective on both attack and defense, he also scored the
Hurricanes' two tries... not only is it rare to see the Hurricanes
forwards scoring tries, it is even rarer to see one scoring two
tries! I, for one, am looking forward to seeing him in the amber
and black of Taranaki in the ITM Cup!
Hurricanes' first five,
Beauden Barrett, had an uncharacteristically bad night with the boot,
kicking at 66% after missing 3/5 attempts at goal. Unlike Barrett,
Crusaders first five Colin Slade had a perfect night with the boot,
slotting 3/3 before he went off in the second half with concussion.
Slade was replaced by Dan Carter, in his first appearance since
coming back from sabbatical. Carter's performance wasn't
particularly memorable, but it was good to see him back in red and
black!
The game was
predictably a very physical one. A scuffle between Dane Coles and
Andy Ellis turned into an all-out brawl, with most players on the
field either involved in the scuffle, or trying to break it up. The
ref spoke to both captains, but there were no yellow cards resulting
from the brawl.
A yellow card was
however given to Matt Todd, early in the first half, for entering the
ruck from the side. After his ten minutes in the naughty chair, Todd
returned and went on to give the most complete performance by any of
the Crusaders forwards. He made a 18 tackles, the most of any
Crusader, and third only to Ardie Savea and Ben Lam (both with 20).
As well having the highest number of tackles, Todd also ran the most
metres (38) of any of the Crusaders.
Neither team gave a
perfect performance. The Crusaders were great at lineout and scrum
time, but they made far too many handling errors, seeming to only
ever go a maximum of five phases before dropping the ball or knocking
it on. The Hurricanes were the opposite. Their scrum was – let's
face it – awful, their lineout was marginally better, but their
handling was GOOD. Had the Crusaders' handling been better, they
could have won the game. Had the Hurricanes been better at the set
piece, they could have won the game by a far more sizeable margin.
The Crusaders' seeming
reluctance to use players off the bench is potentially another reason
they failed to secure the win. Luke Whitelock was having an off
night and should have been replaced at half time by Kieran Read.
Slade, while having a good night kicking for goal, had a shocker of a
night when it came to kicking for touch, with hardly any of his
attempts being successful. I was surprised (as was the rest of the
nation, it seemed) that he wasn't replaced until well into the second
half, and then it was only because of his concussion test.
In all, the game was a
bit of a let-down for me. And not just because the Crusaders lost!
I was hoping for a fast-paced, high-scoring game full of lots of
flashy running. I wanted it to be a thriller, a game that came down
to the last second (think Highlanders v Crusaders from round 15). I
wanted try after try after try. Alas, it was not on the cards.
Am I sad the Crusaders
lost? Yes. Am I worried about the Crusaders' finals hopes? Yes.
Do I think the best team won on the night though? Yes. Yes I do.
