Crusaders: Return to winning ways with six-try victory
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The Crusaders brought their winless streak to an end with a clinical 41-19 dismantling of the Bulls at AMI Stadium in Christchurch on Saturday.
After a slow start, the hosts clicked into fifth gear and outscored the previously unbeaten Bulls six tries to one for a deserved bonus-point win.
The Bulls broke one record last week by winning at Eden Park for the first time but failed to conquer new ground as the visitors went missing in action, and hardly threatened the Crusaders tryline.
The same couldn't be said of the red and black army, who dominated territory and possession as the match progressed, running strongly and building phases with superb support play.
After Dan Carter and Morne Steyn exchanged early penalties, the tries began to flow once the Crusaders made their passes stick.
Robbie Fruean touched down first after a sustained forward build-up. It was a confidence-boosting try for the centre, whose four previous touches of the ball had either gone to ground or been followed by misdirected passes.
With the Crusaders forwards dominating the Bulls pack, Kieran Read was driven over for their second try and Johnny McNicholl touched down on the stroke of half-time for their third to lead 22-9 at the break.
The Bulls had kept their side of the scoreboard moving with Steyn penalties and he added a fourth immediately after the resumption of play to briefly narrow the gap before the Crusaders scored their bonus-point fourth try.
Wing Tom Marshall - who was a standout for the Crusaders - cut through the Bulls midfield and outpaced the cover defence in a 40-metre dash to the line.
Marshall was also instrumental in the next try, with a 50-metre break from turnover ball which resulted in prop Wyatt Crockett crashing over out wide.
Deon Stegmann drove over from a line-out for the visitors' sole try of the match before replacement scrum-half Willi Heinz crossed for the Crusaders' sixth try and hammer the final nail in the Bulls' coffin.
The scorers:
For Crusaders:
Tries: Fruean, McNicholl, Read, Marshall, Crockett, Heinz
Cons: Carter 4
Pen: Carter
For Bulls:
Try: Stegmann
Con: Steyn
Pens: Steyn 4
Crusaders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Tom Marshall, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Johnny McNicholl, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Matt Todd, 6 George Whitelock, 5 Dominic Bird, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Joe Moody, 18 Tom Donnelly, 19 Luke Whitelock, 20 Willi Heinz, 21 Tyler Bleyendaal, 22 Adam Whitelock.
Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Jürgen Visser, 10 Mornè Steyn, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Pierre Spies (c), 7 Arno Botha, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Juandrè Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Frik Kirsten, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Mornè Mellett.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 Jacques Potgieter, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 Jan Serfontein.
Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Comments
noord_transvaal says...
good win for the crusaders even with all the forward passes allowed. bulls should do better next week against a pretty average looking reds team. losing at home against the force who just returned from s.a. . the brumbies humiliated the sharks yesterday so if the bulls are to pick up any further points on tour it's going to have to come from the reds game. tough tour for the bulls. we desperately need hougaard to play again
Posted 14:26 17th March 2013
tha_mai says...
runnrugby - trying to agree with you - see my post about the " 6 or more tries they butchered through poor decision making or last hands not taking the pass" as a team they will only get better -and need to as other sides will improve too, and this season will have its share of upsets as there always are..
Posted 11:08 17th March 2013
MacTavish says...
And we didnt even play that well. How many mistakes and drop balls again? Wait until this team clicks... No such thing as a Crusaders team past its expiry date.
Posted 01:19 17th March 2013
s15rules says...
were back!
Posted 22:52 16th March 2013
runnrugby says...
@tha_mai - The point I was trying to make was that the Bulls win over the Blues last week wasnt as good as they thought it was. The blues messed with the lineup and some of the players that starred in the first two games were not even in the match 22. They also decided to test out a few young guys who had little or no experience playing at super rugby level. Compare this to a crusaders side that have many players and combinations that have played together before at this level and the next.
I know the crusaders are lacking the firepower in the backs that other NZ franchises have but imagine if they did click and fruen caught a few balls. It maybe one from three but that win put them to third in the NZ conference and 7 in the overall standings. Too early to write them off mate
Posted 19:43 16th March 2013
tha_mai says...
Trinads2 - the Crusaders could also have a three from five win ratio in another 2 weeks, as per reds - you do realise Reds have played 2 more matches than some other sides?
Posted 18:51 16th March 2013
Trinats2 says...
Good to see the Crusaders, and Force, finally get on the board.
Posted 13:17 16th March 2013
JayStarr says...
I was cheering for the 'Saders in this one, but I must say the Bulls were uncharacteristically lacking in intensity at the breakdowns and rather poor on defense. And I'm very glad I was cheering for the Crusaders, because if I was screaming for the other team I would've been livid with the amount of forward passes the 'Saders got away with! There was also an incident where the 'Saders winger ran about 2m out of his 22 and kicked a ball straight into touch, but they said he was in his 22..! I couldn't believe it.
So yes, glad the Crusaders woke up and won this game, but poor effort by the Bulls - and poor effort by the match officials.
Posted 12:08 16th March 2013
tha_mai says...
ArmchairGeneral - my point was that they are far from the Crusaders (and Canterbury for that matter) sides of the past who dominated whole All Black test sides, often fielding 10+ current ABs - I think once they fielded 14 ABs in a starting lineup. My point was not well made in that they are more of a 'team' this year. Many of those players today have reached their peak at Super level, ''average' I accept was harsh but they are far from names that will be remembered in a few years time (unless they 'find' a grandparent and head to UK). Most would not make a 2nd NZ XV, Dominic Bird maybe if he continues to improve. Too early to pick them for a top 6 when they've only had 3 matches.
Posted 11:50 16th March 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Tha_mei: so ignore the pack and ignore the top class players that are not ABs and Crusaders are average. Daft. When the season gets serious they will be up there.
Posted 11:20 16th March 2013
Trader2 says...
As I said last week, when the Crusaders manage to catch the ball they will be hard to stop. Luckily for the Bulls they still dropped half the ball they should have caught otherwise they would have put on 80. Bulls obviously feared the Crusader counterattack and played a far more conservative game than last week, pity really as they looked pretty good against the Blues, then again the Sir John brain explosion selections didn't help the Blues.
Posted 10:59 16th March 2013
Wallaroo says...
Great to see the Crusaders playing their A game, class team full of class players who play to their potential.
Posted 10:42 16th March 2013
tha_mai says...
runnrugby - think you greatly over-estimate that Crusaders side. Backs Dagg and Carter the only ones who'd make an AB backline tomorrow, Franks and Read, maybe Whitelock for the forwards. A lot of 'average' in that side.
Far too many errors - for the six tries they scored must have been 6 or more they butchered through poor decision making or last hands not taking the pass, too early to celebate yet that is just one win from three.
Posted 10:33 16th March 2013
runnrugby says...
Bulls brought back down to earth after that win against a blues side which had some strange selections in their lineup. Its different when you play against a Crusaders side stacked with experienced top class players and ABs. They would have been hurting after losing that last one against the canes. Kieren Read was awesome
Posted 09:53 16th March 2013
passtheball says...
The old Crusaders on display today. Dan Carter looked interested at last and the big guns fired as well. Tom Marshall was a stand out. How did SA people rate the NZ ref?
Posted 08:34 16th March 2013
Jester says...
Second week syndrome for the Bulls lots of tired legs out there, Crusaders were cool and calm even thou they made allot of mistakes. Well done to them.
Posted 08:25 16th March 2013