Lions' roar silenced by Crusaders
The Crusaders clicked into a higher gear in the second half to out-score the brave Lions by four tries to nill and prevail 31-6 winners at AMI Stadium on Saturday.
The Crusaders clicked into a higher gear in the second half to out-score the brave Lions by four tries to nill and prevail 31-6 winners at AMI Stadium on Saturday.
Super Rugby fans the world over would have rubbed their eyes in disbelief as the Lions went into the half-time sheds 6-3 up.
What's this? Top versus bottom, David versus Goliath and the cellar-dwelling Lions are in front? The rugby gods really do work in mysterious ways.
It wasn't much, but it was a lead nonetheless and against the Crusaders, a three-point gap could be the equivalent of a ten-point margin.
The Lions were more clinical than the tournament leaders in the first half and played with a lot more heart and passion – nobody would have believed this was a side sitting rock bottom of the standings.
They deserved to be in front after dominating the breakdowns and coming up with better ideas with ball in hand – even though none of them led to a try.
That could partly be blamed for the brilliant Crusaders' defence that was made to work overtime against a determined Lions' outfit that came to the party packed with physical intensity.
It was no surprise then that the Lions struck first with a penalty that was delicately placed between the uprights by Chris Jonck after just four minutes of play.
The visitors' lead didn't last long however as some Lions infringing in their own 22 allowed Hamish Gard to slot the Crusaders' first penalty from right in front to level the scores at 3-3.
Some encouraging Lions attacking play finally paid off in the 13th minute when they were gifted another three points through their second penalty attempt nailed by Jonck.
With just a minute to go in the half, Australian referee Matt Goddard – who blew hot and cold with the whistle – decided Lions' winger Rayno Benjamin had taken a player out off the ball and was duly shown a dubious yellow card.
The Crusaders had a chance to undeservedly draw level on the stroke of half-time, but Gard pushed his attempt wide and the Lions fittingly left the field with their tails up.
Whatever the Lions ate before kick-off, the Crusaders ordered double the amount for the break and came out firing on all cylinders – much to the relief of their stunned fans.
Gard immediately drew the scores level with a penalty kick two minutes into the second half after the Lions were blown up for entering the ruck illegally.
Four minutes later, Sean Maitland was awarded a try after the TMO had judged the winger had grounded the ball safely before his elbow strayed over the dead-ball line.
It was a 50/50 call and the Crusaders got the benefit of the doubt on this occasion.
The build-up to the try was superb as the red and black machine finally clicked into gear when they unleashed a classic backline move that saw each Crusaders' player draw their man, timing their passes perfectly before Maitland finished off in the corner.
Gard missed the tricky conversion, but the hosts were in the lead for the first time in the match after 46 minutes played. How often do you hear that?
The Crusaders' rookie was more successful with his second shot at goal after the Lions – still down to 14 men – were penalised for slowing down the ball.
Benjamin's return from the sin-bin didn't help matters as the Lions were left standing behind their posts once again after hooker Ti'i Paulo managed to burrow his way over from close range off the back of a ruck.
Yet another miss by Gard kept the Lions within striking distance, but only for a few minutes as the home side came back for more – this time through Crusaders' try master Caleb Ralph.
In a similar move that led to their first try, the veteran winger made sure of his grounding with Maitland on his outside to touch down for his 58th Super Rugby try – just one short of equaling Doug Howlett's record.
Gard lined up the conversion attempt and – surprise, surprise – missed another one. Had the Lions been fighting fire with fire, Gard would have been left to pay for his diabolical kicking display.
As it was, the Lions were a shadow of the side that kept the Crusaders at bay in the opening forty minutes. With little ball to play with, the visitors could only defend – and they couldn't even get that right.
The final nail in the coffin was hit in hard and in fine fashion by the Crusaders right from the re-start as the home side unleashed what must be a contender for the try of the season.
The ball went through ten sets of hands, with some sublime skills, as they launched from deep inside their 22 – a move that finally saw Maitland just held up short of the line at the other end.
From the ruck, Andy Ellis sized up the situation perfectly, executing an American Football-style dive right over the top of the pile of bodies to secure the fourth-try bonus point for his team.
And if that wasn't enough, Gard finally was successful with his conversion.
The landslide of tries subsided as the Lions showed real character to stop the Crusaders from scoring any more points for the remainder of the half. But the damage had been done and the visitors left the field this time round with their tails between their legs.
The triumph secures the Crusaders' eighth straight victory of the campaign, as well as their sixth bonus-point win which takes them a commanding seven points clear of nearest challengers the Sharks.
Man of the match: Casey Laulala ran hard and straight all match and Scott Hamilton again revealed his class for the Crusaders, filling in with typical industry at full-back and then finishing the game on the flank as some late injuries forced a reshuffle. For the Lions, their loose trio showed a lot of bite and deserve a beer after the match for their efforts. Ultimately it was the skills, vision, hard running and gusto by scrum-half Andy Ellis that wins our vote. And how was that dive for his try? A perfect ten out of ten in our books!
Moment of the match: Please read above. And no, we're not talking about Hamilton's adventures on the flank!
Villain of the match: Although Rayno Benjamin was shown yellow, there was nothing malicious about what he did – in fact, we are still struggling to find out the reasoning behind referee Matt Goddard's decision.
The scorers:
For Crusaders:
Tries: Maitland, Paulo, Ralph, Ellis
Cons: Gard 2
Pens: Gard 2
For Lions:
Pens: Jonk 2
Yellow card: Rayno Benjamin; professional foul (Lions, 39 min)
Crusaders: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Tim Bateman, 11 Caleb Ralph, 10 Hamish Gard, 9 Andrew Ellis, 8 Mose Tuiali'i, 7 George Whitelock, 6 Reuben Thorne (c), 5 Ali Williams, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Ti'i Paulo, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Brad Thorn, 19 Nasi Manu, 20 Steve Alfeld, 21 Stephen Brett, 22 Kieran Read.
Lions: