Lions v Crusaders
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Crowd love it, showing their appreciation by making a cheering noise with a guttural exhalation.
I will say Peyper and the TMO got that tackle in the air decision correct. Strauss comparing it to last year in the final is deluded.
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Some dodgy reffing in this game. The refs spotted the not-straight throw from Taylor, but missed two from his opposite. Suspicious home-reffing of the scrum as well. Ah well, at least the Lions didn't get more than 3 points out of it.
Well-deserved win from the Crusaders. They were the team that created almost all the chances and defended well.
I hope Goodhue, Crotty, Taufua and Crockett are okay. All are players the Crusaders can't afford to lose.
Whitelock and Todd were massive in this game. Also great turnover from Sanders late in the 2nd half.
Mataele ... wouldn't mind seeing him in black.
And damn, can't wait for Mo'unga to come back. And Moody. And Franks.
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Only seen the second half - digging deep at altitude - those are huge points for us to have collected.
Hopefully just the game in Buenos Aires to get through and then we hopefully get Moody and Franks back - those two along with Mo'unga are the guys we really can't cover for properly.
Israel Dagg was on the Dilmah tea party yesterday and said he's playing half a game of club rugby next weekend.
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Injury reports:
Goodhue - hamstring
Crotty - not injured - 'flu.
Jager - shoulder
Crockett - HIANot sure about the suggestion of shifting Havili to midfield if we don't have Goodhue. I'd shift Seta to centre and play Mataele.
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@stargazer said in Lions v Crusaders:
@booboo If I remember it correctly, the commentators misinterpreted rules (about ball drifting forward etc) as well. Maybe the TMO needs a refresher course, as well?
They were making excuses for the decision. They knew it was legit.
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I didn't think Jaco was too bad - not very pleased about the TMO call for Bridge's try, but on the other hand I fully expected Bridge to be binned with two minutes to go and wouldn't have complained about it. We got away with a few other things including Todd's attempt to reach through the ruck to slap the ball out of the halfback's hands, which fortuitously worked by knocking a Lions player's foot onto the ball. Nonetheless - Todd wasn't on his feet and had no business there.
Perry got a bit of a working over, but if I recall correctly, Joe Moody also had a lot of problems with the Bulls' tighthead in the first half of last year's final - though it became apparent that a lot of what he was doing was illegal. Presumably the same guy?
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@chris-b said in Lions v Crusaders:
I didn't think Jaco was too bad - not very pleased about the TMO call for Bridge's try, but on the other hand I fully expected Bridge to be binned with two minutes to go and wouldn't have complained about it. We got away with a few other things including Todd's attempt to reach through the ruck to slap the ball out of the halfback's hands, which fortuitously worked by knocking a Lions player's foot onto the ball. Nonetheless - Todd wasn't on his feet and had no business there.
Perry got a bit of a working over, but if I recall correctly, Joe Moody also had a lot of problems with the Bulls' tighthead in the first half of last year's final - though it became apparent that a lot of what he was doing was illegal. Presumably the same guy?
It was the Lions, not the Bulls.
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@pukunui Mataele's been impressive this year. He's not the finished article, but once a few more rough edges are knocked off he's going to be very handy.
I think Razor is pretty keen on the "two fullbacks and a power winger" configuration, so I think Mataele will have to bide his time and take his Uncle Seta's wing next year. Dagg will come back shortly and probably take over from Bridge - but, George has been going pretty well this year and his speed has been very useful.
Also, while I think of it - a shout out to Michael Alaalatoa. He's been playing big minutes at tighthead in pretty much every game - at least 70 at the weekend at altitude. Vital really, because we don't have a credible alternative. You hold your breath with some of his tackling, but he's been a big cog in the wheel while Franks has been away and it's going to be bloody handy to have him and (a well rested) Owen paired for the second half of the season.
