Crusaders v Hurricanes
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Just got back from the game, best seats ever thanks to a supplier, I was 5 seats away from the coaching box. Great atmosphere in a full house, even the nice old syrups in the diamond platinum seats around us were getting a little rowdy, and full credit to the team from Move Logistics for the piss.
Canes looked jumped-up and nervous before the game, I wasn't very confident going in, it looked as if they were going to be able to channel the energy into focused aggression on the field. Nup, they were brittle.
Tore up a little while the horses were on.
I was almost resigned to being there while Beaudy tore us a new one, looking forward to seeing it in a way, so yeah disappointed there. All this talk of the Crusaders targeting him, I reckon it was just good defense.
Canes had all the turnover ball and he got plenty of space, took some pretty soft options an didn't execute. Hence the points win for Mo'unga, out Beaudened Beauden tonight which deserves to be noted.
Otherhoo: Matt Todd and Ryan Crotty are deadset legends. Haven't seen any replays of what actually happened and stuff but Yarpo Piper was pulling it out of his ass in the second half. Ardie Savea will get banned for a very long time if he gets caught pinning a player to the ground and punching after the tackle again, he did it twice tonight. We got into the niggle too though, got under their skins a bit by the looks... I get moist over our scrum.
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I really thought the Canes had improved their scrum this season. Obviously not.
Scrums confuse the hack out of me. The Canes dominated the Tahs scrum, and the Tahs held their own against the Crusaders scrum, yet the Canes were on roller skates tonight. Who knows what happens in there...
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Also just back from the game, best atmosphere in years at the ground. Robertson has really brought the fans back.
Best game in 4 years! Pubs were full before and after. And the passion is back.
Can you guys stop talking riccitali up as an option for the abs? Looked like a shrimp out there against a real forward pack.
Jordie Barrett got smashed every time he hit then ball up and copped a bit off the ball, definitely rattled him too.
Crotty and Todd are 2 crusaders legends. Todd was far superior to lightweight savea and derserves a proper stint in the Abs
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@hydro11 said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:
@Stargazer said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:
Not much to add to what has already been said. IMO Crotty had a massive game; he was everywhere. Definitely deserves that AB starting spot.
I hope Scott Barrett's injury isn't too bad; not just for the Saders, but also for the ABs. At least, next week, the Crusaders will have Sam Whitelock back.
Taufua gave away too many penalties, but apart from that he had a great game tonight. Tireless.
Watching the Crusaders play tonight, you wouldn't say they had just returned from SA.
The Hurricanes may have been relying on the Barretts' kicking game too much. Once you shut that down, a big part of their game is gone.
I hope Riccitelli's injury isn't too serious; you wouldn't want Apisai as your starting hooker and a newbie on the bench. Aumua is with the NZU20s ... Unsure who they'd pick.
I agree with the comments about Jane. If you wouldn't know who he was, you'd say - after watching this game - that he's a pretty average SR player. Maybe time to retire ...?
I think Jane has something to offer still. I think he is a better player than Goosen or Umaga-Jensen at this stage.
From the looks of Goosen I'd say Jonah Lowe is better player too - just comes from the wrong province in the Canes region.
What happened to Goosen, he looked bloody good when he first came on to the first class scene but he seems to have regressed.
Anyway, bloody good win to the Crusaders, I actually thought pre-game the Canes would touch them up due to the fact the Crusaders have had a fairly easy run of teams so far but they shut down the Canes pretty easily.
I haven't seen the Crusaders fans so bolshy on the Fern since about 2008.
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@SammyC said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:
Can you guys stop talking riccitali up as an option for the abs? Looked like a shrimp out there against a real forward pack.
This is a point I was going to make. Riccitelli looked lightweight in this game, he was falling off tackles and didn't make much ground as a ball carrier. A good learning curve for him.
I thought Ardie was the pick of the Canes forwards, the stupidity on Hall aside. He plays a different game to Todd and still appeals as the ideal impact sub for the ABs.
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Missed Marshall in the Comms box last night. He's excellent at explaining the backline set ups , off the screen, and where the space is (well, mostly only from set pieces).
With Barrett / kickpases. Had Crusaders countered this with a wide wing defensive positioning? What about you guys at the stadium?
As the kickpass is a counter to a compressed defence anyway. I'm very interested, as the canes passing was so diabolical - I'm wondering if there was a spread defence there waiting to be attacked in a more orthodox manner? If the hurricanes backs weren't passing like Romanian backs.
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Ricchitelli just didn't look like he wanted to be out there. In fact the entire team other than TJP seemed completely flat. It was weird.
Btw Crotty has to be a lock for the Lions. I think he's up for a big series.
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@SammyC said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:
Also just back from the game, best atmosphere in years at the ground. Robertson has really brought the fans back.
Best game in 4 years! Pubs were full before and after. And the passion is back.
Can you guys stop talking riccitali up as an option for the abs? Looked like a shrimp out there against a real forward pack.
Jordie Barrett got smashed every time he hit then ball up and copped a bit off the ball, definitely rattled him too.
Crotty and Todd are 2 crusaders legends. Todd was far superior to lightweight savea and derserves a proper stint in the Abs
Hey hey now....I get that you're excited but don't be hating on human skyscraper Savea.
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@hydro11 said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:
Proctor would have made a bit of a difference. Aso's defence was terrible again tonight. We were just lucky the Crusaders didn't exploit it.
They did. He hurtled out of the line and left a four-lane highway the Crusaders ran down.
The smart money was always on the Crusaders; they have the much better pack.
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I am really liking Goodhue. I am 60 minutes into the game and while he hasn't set the match alight everything he has done so far has been class. He seems to make good decisions and his strength is a real asset for getting out of trouble. His game is very Test like. NZ is blessed with young midfield talent at the moment.
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@Bovidae said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:
@SammyC said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:
Can you guys stop talking riccitali up as an option for the abs? Looked like a shrimp out there against a real forward pack.
This is a point I was going to make. Riccitelli looked lightweight in this game, he was falling off tackles and didn't make much ground as a ball carrier. A good learning curve for him.
Which is what people said about Coles when he first came on. And Coles, for all his brilliance, is still no ball carrier against a pack like that. He needs space to use his pace.
I thought Ardie was the pick of the Canes forwards, the stupidity on Hall aside. He plays a different game to Todd and still appeals as the ideal impact sub for the ABs.
Agree with that.
I thought the Hurricanes looked hesitant, as if they didn't know how to deal with continued pressure. Lots of balls were shovelled along the backline, and plenty were dropped cold. The forwards were awful in the tight.
Some of the tactics baffled me. Why have Julian Savea in your side and not use him on attack? Laumape showed that aggressive running at the line could pay off, but once the Crusaders worked out that all they had to do was mark him up they were sweet.
That said, they kept the score low. I'd be just a touch worried if I was a Crusaders fan about that. The lack of penetration against tight defences even when utterly dominant in most phases of the game has been their Achilles heel for a while now.
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@Chester-Draws said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:
@Bovidae said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:
@SammyC said in Crusaders v Hurricanes:
Can you guys stop talking riccitali up as an option for the abs? Looked like a shrimp out there against a real forward pack.
This is a point I was going to make. Riccitelli looked lightweight in this game, he was falling off tackles and didn't make much ground as a ball carrier. A good learning curve for him.
Which is what people said about Coles when he first came on. And Coles, for all his brilliance, is still no ball carrier against a pack like that. He needs space to use his pace.
I thought Ardie was the pick of the Canes forwards, the stupidity on Hall aside. He plays a different game to Todd and still appeals as the ideal impact sub for the ABs.
Agree with that.
I thought the Hurricanes looked hesitant, as if they didn't know how to deal with continued pressure. Lots of balls were shovelled along the backline, and plenty were dropped cold. The forwards were awful in the tight.
Some of the tactics baffled me. Why have Julian Savea in your side and not use him on attack? Laumape showed that aggressive running at the line could pay off, but once the Crusaders worked out that all they had to do was mark him up they were sweet.
That said, they kept the score low. I'd be just a touch worried if I was a Crusaders fan about that. The lack of penetration against tight defences even when utterly dominant in most phases of the game has been their Achilles heel for a while now.
Absolutely. Jules had to inject himself in the game. he made a good run with only a few minutes to go but barely got the ball before that.
