Tom Christie’s bold claim despite Crusaders dropping to last spot on Super Rugby Pacific table

Despite being rooted to the bottom of the Super Rugby Pacific standings after nine rounds, the Crusaders believe they can still challenge for another title.

The Christchurch-based outfit look a pale shadow of the team who have won Super Rugby titles at will over the years which has made them the tournament’s most successful club.

Dropped to bottom of the table

On Saturday, the Crusaders swapped places with the Western Force at the bottom of the table after the Perth-based outfit sealed a 37-15 home victory over Super Rugby Pacific‘s defending champions.

That result meant the Crusaders have now lost seven of their eight matches in this year’s competition an it was also their first defeat to the force in 11 years.

Rob Penney‘s troops lost their first five matches of the season – against the Chiefs, Waratahs, Fijian Drua, Hurricanes and Blues – before bouncing back by beating the Chiefs in the return match in Christchurch.

That victory gave the Crusaders supporters some hope but that proved to be a false dawn as they suffered subsequent defeats to the Waratahs in Sydney and the Force.

The perennial champions have amassed a meagre seven points on the table and are sixth adrift of Moana Pasifika, who sit in eighth position which is the last play-off spot.

“To be honest, I’m not interested in the ladder. If we start winning games, we’ll put ourselves in position,” Crusaders stand-in skipper Tom Christie told AFP.

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“Yes it’s unique, no team’s probably done it from here, but I’ve still got full faith, full trust in my team that when we get it right, we’re a dangerous team.

“We’ve just got to get it right more often.”

The Crusaders were boosted by the return of some of their previously-injured All Blacks for their clash with the Force but battled to breach their opponents’ defence.

The champions made too many unforced errors which the Force exploited and that helped them to clinch only their second victory of the season.

“This one hurts. We made a lot of errors and, as we know, errors let any team into a game,” Christie said.

Special praise for Sevu Reece

The openside flanker heaped praise on All Blacks flyer Sevu Reece, who became the the Crusaders’ leading try-scorer when he went over for his 53rd Super Rugby try which moves him ahead of former wing Caleb Ralph.

“Sevu’s rugby talent – he’s the best in the country, there’s no other way to put it, and potentially the best in the competition,” added Christie.

“He shows that week in-week out. The rest of us just need to get up to his level.”

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