Two tries: Zac Guildford
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The Crusaders sealed a 51-18 victory over the Highlanders on Friday in a result that stands them in good stead heading into the international break.
Todd Blackadder's outfit, who have struggled to find their best form in Super Rugby this season, finally clicked into top gear on home soil in a devastating performance that all but ends the Highlanders' hopes of making the play-offs.
Two yellow cards were the catalyst in the contest as 23 points were scored when flanks George Whitelock and James Haskell were in the sin-bin during the first-half. But it was the Crusaders who stole the show as they picked up their bonus-point in the 37th minute to cap a purple patch.
Prior to that, Whitelock had opened the scoring with a try on three minutes after a typically power-packed start from the hosts. Dan Carter added the extras and then tested his troulesome groin by striking one over from halfway. A grimace afterwards had New Zealand hearts in mouths.
Chris Noakes then responded from the kicking tee with two penalties to make it 6-10 before the Highlanders announced themselves onto the game via a well-taken individual effort from Tamati Ellison. The All Blacks squad member shrugged off a tackler and then fended off the attempts of Ben Franks en route to the line. Noakes' conversion pushed the visitors into a three-point lead with about a quarter gone, but that only served to awaken the Crusaders.
Cue 34 unanswered points from the hosts as Andy Ellis, Zac Guildford, Ryan Crotty and early replacement for Corey Flynn, Quentin MacDonald, were prominent in open play.
Their second score was something special as Carter chose to grubber from his own 22 for hooker MacDonald, who then found the speed of Guildford and the winger did the rest from 55 metres out. That was the start of something special from the Crusaders as they finally discovered their top form in 2012, something coach Blackadder has been longing for.
Guildford claimed his brace soon after as again the mercurial Carter put boot to ball, with the successful grubber kick option popping up nicely for the flyer to cash in on the left wing.
Carter converted and then added two more soon after when the Crusaders struck straight from the restart, Robbie Freuan and Ellis combining to allow Crotty to run under the posts.
Richie McCaw was the next to join the procession six minutes into the second-half when he managed to ground the ball in the right corner after Ellis's kick through. And when prop Wyatt Crockett crashed over from close-range before fly-half Carter kicked the extras, the shell-shocked Highlanders found themselves trailing 13-44. The wheels had come off for them.
The Highlanders found something to cling to when Hosea Gear gambled on an intercept from Ellis and went 80 metres to the left corner, but it was all in vain as the Crusaders were to have the last word when replacement Matt Todd went in for the home side's seventh try.
The scorers:
For Crusaders:
Tries: G Whitelock, Guildford 2, Crotty, McCaw, Crockett, Todd
Con: Carter 5
Pen: Carter 2
For Highlanders:
Tries: Ellison, Gear
Con: Noakes
Pen: Noakes 2
Yellow cards: George Whitelock (Crusaders - 17th minute), James Haskell (Highlanders - 26th minute)
Crusaders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Adam Whitelock, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 George Whitelock, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Tom Donnelly, 19 Matt Todd, 20 Willi Heinz, 21 Tom Taylor, 22 Tom Marshall.
Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Kurt Baker, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 James Haskell, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Josh Bekhuis, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Chris King, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Jamie Mackintosh (c).
Replacements: 16 Jason Rutledge, 17 Bronson Murray, 18 Nick Crosswell, 19 Tim Boys, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Mike Delany, 22 Kade Poki.
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
Comments
Trinats2 says...
Ramage:
"Referee Craig Joubert (SA) A well known cheat "
Is this a fact or are you just speculating ?
Posted 11:21 03rd June 2012
Ramage says...
Sad Trinuts you constantly slander kiwi refs every week and your answer to criticism is that they have been watching kiwi refs or taking deliberately wrong instructions from Braid who as kiwi is a cheat. C'mon Trinuts you really are pathetic. Ozzies lose games because of cheating kiwi refs. NZ only wins because of cheating kiwi refs and assistants. Give us a break and with the International games coming up the kiwis will only win because of the cheating International refs. Doesn't look good for OZ chances against Wales because look at the line up of officials set down to control the tests.
June 5 Vs Scotland Jaco Peyper (SA) Should be ok no adverse comments.
Assistant referees 1 Craig Joubert (SA) Absolute cheat in games Aus v NZ as well as his lack of backbone in RWC and took orders from evil Paddy O'Brien to let NZ win. Assistant 2 Keith Brown (NZ) Obviously a cheat as he is a kiwi . TMO Vinny Munro (NZ) Also a kiwi so obviously a cheat.
June 9 Vs Wales Referee Craig Joubert (SA) A well known cheat
Assistants 1 Keith Brown (NZ) & Garrett Williamson (NZ) kiwis so cheats. TMO
Vinny Munro (NZ) kiwi so also a cheat.
June 16 Vs Wales Referee Chris Pollock (NZ) kiwi so cheat. Assistants 1. Craig Joubert SA and garrett Williamson both known cheats and TMO Vin
June 23 Vs Wales Referee Craig Joubert (SA) well known cheat. Assistants 1 Keith Brown Garrett Williamson and TMO Vinnie Munro all kiwis so all cheats.
So according to Trinuts theory he must think there is no way the Wallabies can win these tests. Please note Trinuts, in Australia NZ produces a referee on touch who can take over the game should the referee get injured. In NZ where we have OZ assistants and TMos a referee from another country has to take up the no 1 assistant postion in case of injury to the referee. Why? Because there are no referees from OZ considered good enough.
Posted 08:25 03rd June 2012
three6three6 says...
Here is a bold prediction ¿ the Crusaders will beat the Chiefs when they play on Friday, 6 July.. but the Chiefs will also finish in overall first place on the Super Table. The Crusaders will finish fourth and have home advantage in one of the quarter final matches. The Stormers should hold on to top place in the South African Pool ¿ although they do have some physical matches coming up against the Lions, Cheetahs and Melbourne Rebels. Should the Stormers win any of these with additional bonus points, then they may well edge the Chiefs for top spot overall....
What about the Bulls? They will probably squeeze into the Top Six but it will not be easy for them with matches against the Sharks, Cheetahs and Lions still to play.
What about the Australian Pool? The winner of this is likely to be the Brumbies since they simply have too many points on the Reds. Will the Reds finish the top six? The Reds are more likely to make the Top Six than the Hurricanes, simply because of the quality of the opposition in the last three matches. The Hurricanes must play the Crusaders and Chiefs, whereas the Reds will play the Rebels, Highlanders and Waratahs. In any event the Sixth placed team (Reds? Bulls? Sharks?) will play the Third placed team (likely to be the Brumbies) away from home.... a difficult assignment.
A Reds vs Bulls final is not a likely scenario at this time.... even if it were possible it is likely to be the Bulls vs Reds (since the Bulls will be further up the table than the Reds and therefore obtain home advantage).... the Bulls would no doubt win at Loftus by squeezing the life out of the Reds and scoring in multiples of 3 points.
By the way, the most consistent Super Rugby team in recent years has been the BULLS. The Crusaders may have won more titles but it is the Bulls that have been more successful over the last four or five years!
Posted 07:47 03rd June 2012
Trader2 says...
Hi @2EyedKiwi I already have a 2 after my name, it doesn't help, glad you think I am boring as that is the purpose I will only respond to Trinats when he babbles on constantly about the same old thing. If he was accurate that¿s fine and I will acknowledge it but most of what he posts is just a figment of his wild distorted imagination. His knowledge on all things rugby is pathetically limited and his posts very obviously point to the fact that he does not have any mates that he can discuss these things rationally with hence the gibberish you all have to put up with. The only thing that really annoys me is his personal attacks on various referees (mainly, but not limited to Kiwi's), these guys are doing the job to the best of their ability, some are better than others like in all professions but Trinats attacks are not worthy of a true rugby fan. It is going to be a long barren year for him so we have to expect the attacks to continue, fortunately he really is in the minority, real rugby fans in Oz are pretty knowledgeable and fair-minded.
Posted 01:37 03rd June 2012
2EyedKiwi says...
@Trinats. The Refs boss is from New Zealand. In case you don't know where that is, I'll give you a hint. Its the same place that your coach and your best Reds and Wallabies come from, and where the Rugby World Cup currently resides. (damn - now I'm starting to sound as boring as you and Trader. Might need to put a 2 after my name...)
Posted 22:38 02nd June 2012
Trader2 says...
Hi Trinats now in repose I presume you mean "even your ONE eyed commentators...." sometimes it is difficult to work out your typos from the garbage.Yes you probably would not have seen the Pom's having a fiddle, normally they would be steamrolling the useless Wannabie forwards and would have no reason to be on the ground so I understand where you are coming from there. Happy to have you back on Sir Ritchie's case he is obviously playing well again now he has two legs working. The Red's to beat the Bulls by 20+ in the final now that is a laugh you muppet, but at least I am with the fairies and not the Elves like your good self. "Vulgar insults"? well how precious you are, spending too much time with the Elves it would appear.
Posted 15:48 02nd June 2012
three6three6 says...
Well the Crusaders are looking business like yet again at the right time of the Super Rugby Championship. The refereeing I thought was reasonably good.... this was not an appalling display of incompetence from the man in the middle.... but rather it was much better than this.... yes there were a couple of mistakes but this happens within all human endeavour. After all Steve Walsh is now the 'leading' referee in Australia and is still on the international panel to referee major international rugby matches across the world. Well done Steve!
There were many Crusaders playing well.... but I thought that Ryan Crotty played particularly well.... he certainly provides some of the answers to improving the 10 & 12 axis, in the absence of SBW.
Posted 15:32 02nd June 2012
Trinats2 says...
lyndonmac:
"Call me a one-eyed Cantabrian"
You're a cantabrian !!!!!
ramage:
I agree, assistant referees, in Brumbies games, Shocking, maybe watching too much kiwi refs, or orders from the refs boss (where's he from ???)
Posted 15:16 02nd June 2012
Wallaroo says...
Well done Saders, a genuine display of good solid rugby. Pity it was against the Highlanders which in my opinion deserve a place in the play-offs.
Posted 12:32 02nd June 2012
tha_mai says...
Rennie the Chiefs coach said he thought 57 would be required for the top six; if (and I say 'if') he's right, suggest Highlanders are finished, they have the bye, would need wins v Chiefs/Reds incl one four-try bonus from those games.
Posted 08:32 02nd June 2012
Ramage says...
@tha mai I agree with your comment about the assistant refs responsibility to the game . Very often a player moves into the line of vision of the referee and blocks off thr referee's sight of what happens. When it does out comes the well known moaners on this sight who have all the knowledge of the laws and seem to know much more than the referee who is given charge of the game. However I do ask the question as raised funnily enough about the assistant referees in the Australian game last night over the kick taken back into the 22 and then kicked out on the full. Why was it that it was the assistant on the far side of the field who let the referee know and yet the one who was closest was in all in tents and purposes content to let it go or was he just very slow in reacting. Maybe Trinuts would be better off at taking off the eye patch and looking at his own country's lack of whistlers in Super Rugby and stop trying to slander the saffa and kiwi refs who control most of the Super Rugby games. Perhaps it is dawning on him that unless the Brumbies stumble then his beloved Reds will not make the play offs.
Posted 07:36 02nd June 2012
2EyedKiwi says...
@trinats the sequel, please don't judge all us Kiwis by Justin Marshall. I don't judge all Aussies by Kearnsey....
Posted 07:00 02nd June 2012
lyndonmac says...
Call me a one-eyed Cantabrian, but I only saw one obvious forward pass during the buildups to the crusaders 7 tries. Most of the game was played at such a frenetic pace that you'd have to forgive a moment or two when the ref and/or touchies were unsighted or behind the play. Watching the speed and skills shown in some of these super15 games lately, I'm desperately hoping the test teams about to visit from the North are going to be a deal less stodgy, and a deal more like Wales have been recently, than they've showed us on previous tours. Running rugby, the game played in heaven!
Posted 05:03 02nd June 2012
powerplay says...
Sometimes 10 can get boring I reckon. Maybe it was good that DC spent time at 12, it varies things up a bit, keeps him fresh and when you put him back @ 10, HELLO!!!
Posted 02:23 02nd June 2012
jonesrp says...
Trinats is aware of course, that the ref was from Australia ?
Posted 01:16 02nd June 2012
s15rules says...
her we come boys
Posted 00:30 02nd June 2012
Trinats2 says...
Blindbat:
Are you serious about the ref in this game ? even your eyed commentators couldn't stop about him.
"what is it with these pommie forwards they just cannot help themselves, love a good fiddle while lying vertical"
A classic, coming from a kiwi................... broke myself a new one with laughter. It's only what he learned in the past year. I noticed McCaw now playing for the Highlanders, he couldn't have been that far off side, surely? even facing Crusaders in the ruck at times. Some will say he is getting old, taking ages to get out of the ruck (obstructing), yet on the offence he is up like a light.
Nearly as much laughter shed here.... "bye plus two bonus point wins over the Reds and Chiefs, 58 points will clinch a spot no sweat"
Where's the spot ? Middle earth !!! You are off with the fairies.
Please reframe from the vulgar insults, (surprised PR let it through) it doesn't become you (maybe it does?), there are children (heaps of them judging by some posts) on here.
Posted 23:29 01st June 2012
sandal says...
@hayj05
You say: ""I reckon Marshall overcompensates when trying to be an impartial commentator.""
Yes, I think that's it. But he never lets us, and I think it reflects something in his makeup. In his playing days he must have been a right pain for the man with the whistle. Typical halfback, I suppose.
Posted 22:50 01st June 2012
AWEBLAX says...
A wee bit early to celebrate, but I have to say it "HERE THEY COME" the Crusaders once again seem to be peaking at the business end, pity they have to knock out other Kiwi teams to get to the playoffs, Though I am worried about the effect the break in the comp. will have on their momento and the fact that Kiwi derbies can be brutal, not a fan of this new system not a fan at all, at the moment it favours the Aussies big time and they would be lucky to have a team in the top 5 if it wasn't for this new set up, meanwhile the South Africans and the New Zealanders are belting the bajeebers out of each other, but lo and behold the Aussies seem to have the most injuries? WTF! I too hope the Irish didn't watch this encounter but I sure as hell hope the Aussies did and they should be thanking their lucky stars that this system is in place.......
Posted 22:27 01st June 2012
brands says...
@trinuts2
point your poisen somewere else fool and go watch your ocker shockers attempt to play the game!
Posted 20:09 01st June 2012