Crusaders v Hurricanes: Five takeaways as Sevu Reece dominates 100th game and the ‘most pleasing’ sight for Dave Rennie and All Blacks
Sevu Reece and an inset of Tyrel Lomax.
Following the Crusaders’ 47-14 victory over the Hurricanes in the final round of the Super Rugby Pacific regular season, here are our five takeaways.
Top line
One-way traffic in Christchurch as the Crusaders emphatically put a second-string Hurricanes outfit to the sword, scoring seven tries and conceding two to close out their regular season on a high.
Sevu Reece starred in his 100th appearance for the Crusaders, scoring in both halves, added a conversion and two two try assists against the table toppers. He opened the scoring in what was a dominant first-half performance from the ‘Saders despite Brad Shields quickly responding for the visitors. Noah Hotham, Johnny McNicholl and Christian Lio-Willie all crossed the whitewash to send the Crusaders into the sheds boasting a 26-7 half-time lead.
The ‘Canes stemmed the tide for the early knockings of the second half before replacement hooker Manumaua Letiu finally got the Crusaders’ fifth try in the 60th minute. The visitors looked as if they would finish strongly when Pouri Rakete-Stones powered over with 10 minutes left to play, but the ‘Saders surged to victory as Kyle Preston and Reece put the finishing touches on the victory.
Crusaders suffocate Canes
The scoreline suggests a battering, but the Crusaders were made to work hard for their victory on Friday evening. However, Rob Penney’s side were methodical and disciplined for long periods of the game as they piled on the pressure and suffocated the Super Rugby Pacific table-topping Hurricanes.
The match finished with the ‘Saders boasting 60% possession and territory dominance. Their 2.6 points per entry into the Hurricanes’ 22 is a bit of an eye-sore, but the hosts did rack up an impressive 18 entries as they consistently pinned the visitors back deep into their own half. However, Penney’s men lacked that killer edge to turn a 33-point hammering into a good and proper thrashing. That won’t really matter much in the grand scheme of things as a 33-point win still earns the ‘Saders the same five league points that a 50+ thrashing would.
It’s very much job done for the hosts who will finish no lower than fourth in the standings, with third a possibility if the Chiefs beat the Blues tomorrow in Waikato.
While it was an emphatic win, the performance wasn’t quite as ruthless and accurate as the Crusaders staff will have hoped but it does give them plenty to work on going into the knockout stages. The Canterbury club are renowned for producing performances where they suffocate and pummel their opponents into submission and there was certainly an element of that in their performance today but at the same time, the ‘Canes had just two entries into the Crusaders’ 22 and they came away with seven points on each occasion.
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Hurricanes final round luxury
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, Clark Laidlaw had the luxury of resting his frontline players for the trip to Christchurch as it was mathematically impossible for the Chiefs to usurp them. This meant there was no reason to fast-track Jordie Barrett’s return, while standout performers like Peter Lakai, Warner Dearns, Brayden Iose, Ruben Love, Asafo Aumu, and many others were given the week off.
It’s a position that only the Hurricanes and Chiefs could afford in the final round before the knockout stages and one both teams earned through their form throughout the season as the clear-cut two top clubs in the competition.
It also meant that Laidlaw was able to reward many fringe players for their work on the training paddock during the season and the chance to stake a claim for possible inclusion in the matchday squad for the knockouts. Replacement halfback Jordi Viljoen arguably made the best of that opportunity more than any of his teammates after the ‘Canes boss introduced the scrum-half from the first whistle in the second half, as there was no need to further risk Roigard.
Back-rowers Arese Poliko and Cooper Flanders also impressed with their defensive efforts, and while Laidlaw won’t be overly happy with the final scoreline, he will be pleased that his much-changed team was able to disrupt the Crusaders’ attack so regularly. The hosts were able to march into a 26-7 half-time lead; they were kept quiet for the first quarter of the second half before Letiu powered over, and as the clock ticked into the final 10 minutes, Rakete-Stones struck for the Canes.
Crucially, the Hurricanes were also able to get 40 minutes of New Zealand’s best tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax, with the All Black playing just his second game this season and first since March.
Sevu Reece signs off in style
Reece will still have some say during the Crusaders’ post-season, but playing in his 100th game for the Canterbury club before his departure to French club Perpignan, the All Blacks winger was up to his usual tricks and some new ones in a man-of-the-match display.
He extended his record as the competition’s all-time top try scorer to 73 and knocked over the conversion for his second five-pointer for good measure. Reece fell out of favour under Scott Robertson last year, and rightly so because his performances in black dipped, but today was a reminder of what he is capable of and what Dave Rennie could be missing out on.
He threw a wonderful offload in the build-up to the Crusaders’ first try of the game, which he ultimately finished off himself, and repeated the trick with a superb pass in contact to Hotham, who rounded off the second try. He slipped through a couple of tackles and linked up with the evergreen Johnny McNicholl, who stunningly sent Lio-Willie over.
Reece was incredibly busy throughout the 80 minutes and filled in at scrum-half as Letiu grabbed the first try of the second half, but the speedster was eager to score a brace and did so as he further punished the Canes and coolly slotted the conversion for good measure.
His excellence with ball in hand will steal the spotlight, but it was an incredibly well-rounded shift from Reece who dominated in the air as well and played a big role in suffocating the Hurricanes. New Zealand is never short on options out wide but one has to think that Rennie would have at least liked the ability to select the Crusaders star or not.
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The most pleasing performance for Rennie will have been that of Hurricanes prop Lomax, who has had a torrid time with injuries of late, missing the end-of-year tour last year and before today, had played just one game. As mentioned above, there is no better tighthead prop in New Zealand than Lomax, who is simply world-class. Fletcher Newell filled his void admirably last year, but there was still a noticeable difference between the pair, with the Crusader still developing his class.
Lomax is bound to be a big part of Rennie’s plans, and seeing him get 40 minutes under his belt will be a massive boost, particularly with a view to the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour. But at the same time, the sight of Newell trotting off injured will raise concerns. At the highest level, having two classy operators on the tighthead side of the scrum is essential; New Zealand have two great options but need them both fit.
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Rennie and his coaching staff will be mindful that this was largely a full-strength Crusaders’ outfit against a second-string Hurricanes one, but the players can only play what’s in front of them, and today, Lio-Willie performed to his usual high standard. The number eight was capped last year against France but fell out of favour as the year progressed, but is making a good fist of earning a recall. He was effective on both sides of the ball, grabbed a try and was relentless from start to finish.
Ditto for Crusaders’ skipper David Havili in the midfield, while upfront both Dominic Gardiner and Jamie Hannah put in excellent shifts that will only help their causes. On the losing side, Cam Roigard managed to be a standout for the Hurricanes despite being outplayed in the first half, as he only cemented his pedigree as New Zealand’s best number nine.
