Crusaders v Chiefs (SF)

[taniwharugby]

@Hooroo Thursday morning...oh wait

[Hooroo]

@taniwharugby ya know?!?

[Hooroo]

@Rocky-Rockbottom

You must have rocks in your head!!

[SammyC]

The rain is back today, supposed to bucket down for the next 2 days. With a chance of snow to low levels

We've pretty much had our entire annual rainfall already.

Clearing on Saturday, but cold.. After the hammering it took last week it will be a very slippery surface.

[Stargazer]

Crusaders

1 Joe Moody
2 Codie Taylor
3 Owen Franks
4 Scott Barrett
5 Sam Whitelock (C)
6 Jordan Taufua
7 Matt Todd (VC)
8 Kieran Read
9 Bryn Hall
10 Richie Mo'unga
11 Seta Tamanivalu
12 Ryan Crotty (VC)
13 Jack Goodhue
14 Israel Dagg
15 David Havili

Reserves
16 Ben Funnell
17 Wyatt Crockett
18 Michael Alaalatoa
19 Luke Romano
20 Pete Samu
21 Mitchell Drummond
22 Mitchell Hunt
23 George Bridge

BNZ Crusaders team to play the Chiefs in semi-final

The same BNZ Crusaders side that beat the Highlanders in the Investec Super Rugby quarter-final last weekend will attempt to do the same with the Chiefs in Saturday night's semi-final clash.

It is the third time in Super Rugby history that these two teams have faced off in a semi-final, and the Chiefs have come our the victors on both of those previous occasions.  But BNZ Crusaders Head Coach Scott Robertson says this is a different time and different circumstances.

"They used their homeground advantage on those occasions, but this time we have earned the chance to play in front of our own supporters and that means a lot to us.  To see so many of our supporters still come out to the game last weekend in such miserable conditions was humbling, so that is even more motivation for the team to put on a performance to make the fans proud this Saturday night," Robertson said.

Kick-off is at 7:35pm this Saturday night at AMI Stadium, Christchurch, and tickets are available from www.ticketdirect.co.nz or the Ticket Direct app.

[SammyC]

@Stargazer said in Crusaders v Chiefs (SF):

Crusaders

1 Joe Moody
2 Codie Taylor
3 Owen Franks
4 Scott Barrett
5 Sam Whitelock (C)
6 Jordan Taufua
7 Matt Todd (VC)
8 Kieran Read
9 Bryn Hall
10 Richie Mo'unga
11 Seta Tamanivalu
12 Ryan Crotty (VC)
13 Jack Goodhue
14 Israel Dagg
15 David Havili

Reserves
16 Ben Funnell
17 Wyatt Crockett
18 Michael Alaalatoa
19 Luke Romano
20 Pete Samu
21 Mitchell Drummond
22 Mitchell Hunt
23 George Bridge

BNZ Crusaders team to play the Chiefs in semi-final

The same BNZ Crusaders side that beat the Highlanders in the Investec Super Rugby quarter-final last weekend will attempt to do the same with the Chiefs in Saturday night's semi-final clash.

It is the third time in Super Rugby history that these two teams have faced off in a semi-final, and the Chiefs have come our the victors on both of those previous occasions.  But BNZ Crusaders Head Coach Scott Robertson says this is a different time and different circumstances.

"They used their homeground advantage on those occasions, but this time we have earned the chance to play in front of our own supporters and that means a lot to us.  To see so many of our supporters still come out to the game last weekend in such miserable conditions was humbling, so that is even more motivation for the team to put on a performance to make the fans proud this Saturday night," Robertson said.

Kick-off is at 7:35pm this Saturday night at AMI Stadium, Christchurch, and tickets are available from www.ticketdirect.co.nz or the Ticket Direct app.

Fuck Robertson is cool, has made a real effort this year to connect with the fans.

Members even got a personally signed Christmas card.

Huge change from Blackadder.

[Bovidae]

All the pressure is on the Crusaders with home advantage and no travel to contend with.

The Chiefs have a good recent record in Chch and even if the weather is shit again the Chiefs should take some confidence from the fact that their best performance of the year was also played in terrible conditions (vs Canes in Hamilton).

[Bovidae]

Also, it appears that the Chiefs will name the same starting XV too. The only question mark is Donald or Ngatai at 2nd 5. The team is usually named at 5 pm.

[No Quarter]

@Bovidae said in Crusaders v Chiefs (SF):

All the pressure is on the Crusaders with home advantage and no travel to contend with.

The Chiefs have a good recent record in Chch and even if the weather is shit again the Chiefs should take some confidence from the fact that their best performance of the year was also played in terrible conditions (vs Canes in Hamilton).

Nonsense, the Chiefs can't just absolve themselves of pressure. This is a semi-final, both teams are under big pressure to stand up and be counted at the business end of the season. Otherwise it was all for nothing.

[mariner4life]

@No-Quarter said in Crusaders v Chiefs (SF):

@Bovidae said in Crusaders v Chiefs (SF):

All the pressure is on the Crusaders with home advantage and no travel to contend with.

The Chiefs have a good recent record in Chch and even if the weather is shit again the Chiefs should take some confidence from the fact that their best performance of the year was also played in terrible conditions (vs Canes in Hamilton).

Nonsense, the Chiefs can't just absolve themselves of pressure. This is a semi-final, both teams are under big pressure to stand up and be counted at the business end of the season. Otherwise it was all for nothing.

Na ah

[No Quarter]

@mariner4life you'd think a couple of titles would have instilled a bit of expectation into Chiefs fans. But already back to the "oh well we gave it a good crack, I'm happy with 4th place!" limp-wristed bullshit. Comon you're not Blues fans, you should EXPECT to win this one and the next.

[Wurzel]

Chiefs fans have lowered the expectations of their team when they realised Rennie wasn't much chop and it was all Wayne Smith's doing to win those two titles.

[Rancid Schnitzel]

@Rocky-Rockbottom said in Crusaders v Chiefs (SF):

Avatar and account log-in naming rights for 1 week says the Cantabs lose.

WHO AMONG YOU?

As if your current avatar isn't embarrassing enough.

[Bovidae]

@No-Quarter Of course the Chiefs will go down there expecting to play well and win but there is more pressure on the home team. I'd say the same for the Chiefs if the game was in Hamilton.

That doesn't mean I think we can't win the game.

[ACT Crusader]

@Bovidae said in Crusaders v Chiefs (SF):

@No-Quarter Of course the Chiefs will go down there expecting to play well and win but there is more pressure on the home team. I'd say the same for the Chiefs if the game was in Hamilton.

That doesn't mean I think we can't win the game.

To me that doesn't make sense. I think the pressure is usually on the away side. To deal with the unfamiliar surrounds, the opposing fans, the travel. That's all more pressure that outweighs this so called "weight of expectation" to not stuff up at home. To me that's more a fan thing than on the players.

[mariner4life]

@ACT-Crusader the whole thing is just bullshit in a grab for the underdog tag, which i don't know, is an attempt to not be a choker if it fucks up? I've seen some ham-fisted ones (even worse than @SammyC yesterday ) like Queensland Origin in the middle of an 8-series streak trying to down play their chances.

I don't know what to make of the Chiefs this year. I've watched us play some horrible shit (Rebels, Force, Sunwolves) and i thought "we're a bit shit this year" and then they go and beat the Hurricanes away. And somehow they only lost twice, once in the Republic, and once to the basically unstoppable Crusaders. Over all i don't think we are that good this year, we lack a bit of quality in a few areas, so making the semis i would deem about par. I never back the team coming home from South Africa to win, so realistically we are probably 10 points down this week, and i expect that to be the margin.

A win would be pretty sweet though, and if everyone plays to their full ability, we could very well do it. I just don't see that happening.

[SammyC]

@mariner4life said in Crusaders v Chiefs (SF):

@ACT-Crusader the whole thing is just bullshit in a grab for the underdog tag, which i don't know, is an attempt to not be a choker if it fucks up? I've seen some ham-fisted ones (even worse than @SammyC yesterday ) like Queensland Origin in the middle of an 8-series streak trying to down play their chances.

I don't know what to make of the Chiefs this year. I've watched us play some horrible shit (Rebels, Force, Sunwolves) and i thought "we're a bit shit this year" and then they go and beat the Hurricanes away. And somehow they only lost twice, once in the Republic, and once to the basically unstoppable Crusaders. Over all i don't think we are that good this year, we lack a bit of quality in a few areas, so making the semis i would deem about par. I never back the team coming home from South Africa to win, so realistically we are probably 10 points down this week, and i expect that to be the margin.

A win would be pretty sweet though, and if everyone plays to their full ability, we could very well do it. I just don't see that happening.

Get off the high horse bro.

I just said I thought there should be a different referee. Nothing more...... In addition to playing for the Chiefs, Jackson is a shit ref and doesn't deserve to be fast tracked the way he has.

The Rennie comment was an obvious troll (which worked) given his status as a messiah on here amongst Chiefs fans

I think given the weather and previous form this year we start as favourites... deservedly. I hope we win, there's no team I hate losing to more!

[Stargazer]

Chiefs

1 Kane Hames (24)
2 Nathan Harris (30)
3 Nepo Laulala (14)
4 Mitchell Brown (17)
5 Brodie Retallick (84)
6 Liam Messam (161)
7 Sam Cane (94) – Co-captain
8 Michael Leitch (33)
9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow (82)
10 Aaron Cruden (88) – Co-captain
11 James Lowe (52)
12 Charlie Ngatai (42)
13 Anton Lienert-Brown (39)
14 Tim Nanai-Williams (84)
15 Damian McKenzie (49)

Reserves
16 Liam Polwart (5)
17 Aidan Ross (5)
18 Atu Moli (27)
19 Dominic Bird (28)
20 Lachlan Boshier (18)
21 Finlay Christie (9)
22 Stephen Donald (103)
23 Shaun Stevenson (24)

() = Gallagher Chiefs caps in brackets

Not considered for selection: Brad Weber, Mitchell Graham, Sam McNicol, Toni Pulu, Taleni Seu, Hika Elliot and Johnny Faauli.

Gallagher Chiefs team named to play the BNZ Crusaders in Investec Super Rugby semifinal

The stage is set for a sensational semifinal showdown at AMI Stadium in Christchurch this Saturday. Only one team will remain in the running for the coveted 2017 Investec Super Rugby title when referee Glen Jackson blows the whistle to end this weekend’s war between the Gallagher Chiefs and the BNZ Crusaders.

Head coach Dave Rennie has named his strongest possible team to do battle with the Southerners at 7.35pm on Saturday night. There are just three changes to the side that defeated the Stormers 17-11 in a spirited Cape Town quarterfinal contest last weekend.

Resilient midfielder Charlie Ngatai returns from an ankle injury to start at second five-eighth, with veteran utility back Stephen Donald vacating the number 12  jersey to bolster the bench. Experienced Samoan-International Tim Nanai-Williams is promoted from the reserves to start on the right wing.

[Tim]

How many penalties will Kane Hames give away?

[antipodean]

@Tim said in Crusaders v Chiefs (SF):

How many penalties will Kane Hames give away?

I was just about to write that exact question.

I see Hika Elliot's fall from grace continues...