Crusaders edge Chiefs to go top
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:28
Back at the top: Crusaders captain Richie McCaw
The Crusaders continued their resurgent form, as they edged the Chiefs 26-19 in a Super 14 Round Five match in Hamilton on Friday - moving to the top of the standings, for at least the next 24 hours.
For years and years, but especially recently, law-makers have tried to fashion laws to make the game faster and more entertaining. Teams still find winning better than entertaining. But tonight in Hamilton on the North Island of New Zealand for 40 minutes two teams played the game the way the law-makers hoped it would be played. It was brilliant,, thrilling, exciting and it was proper rugby - hard and fast. Perhaps too fast because it did not carry over into the second half, traditionally the more active half, absorbing though much of the second half was.
There was a strong southerly at Waikato Stadium with its 20 000 noisy spectators and then at the start of the second half the rain came. The Crusaders had the first use of the wind and they ran and ran and ran, kicking seldom, which meant that the Chiefs saw little of the ball. In the second half the Crusaders played it close, which meant the Chiefs had little ball.
The Chiefs also had little ball because their scrum was a rickety old thing. In fact the scrums were a nuisance - 16 scrums, 6 resets, 11 collapses, 6 penalties. There was one long stoppage when the TMO was consulted and looked at several replays. This was followed buy a five-metre scrum which took long to set, collapsed three times for two resets and a penalty to the Chiefs.
The line-outs caused problems for both sides. Each side lost three and threw in skew once. That added to the unpredictability of the match. The penalty count was 12-8 to the Chiefs but early on the referee Mark Lawrence, celebrating his 50th Super rugby match, cleared up offside at kicks, thereby opening the game up to counterattack.
And there was counterattack aplenty in that first half as play went back and forth, left and right. It was brilliant.
Though the Crusaders had the wind the Chiefs scored first when Stephen Donald drove two penalties over into the wind, the first when several players were offside ahead of Dan Carter's long kick downfield, the second when Kieran Read infringed at a tackle. 6-0 to the Chiefs after just 3 minutes.
Then the men from the south started running left and right, through many phases as quick ball came their way. When Aled de Malmanche was penalised at a tackle, Carter, ignoring the racket, calmly made it 6-3 after 6 minutes.
Again the Crusaders went wide through many phases, assisted by quick ball at the tackle., They went wide right, then wide left, then wide right again till Jared Payne played the ball back inside to Kahn Fotuali'i and the sturdy scrumhalf scored the first try of the match, surprisingly as it turned out the first of only three, all scored in the first half. Carter converted. 10-6 to the Crusaders after 8 minutes.
It was the fastest Super 14 match this year.
The Chiefs had some good moments when they counterattacked and the incredible Lelia Masaga had a long run and then Brendon Leonard burst on a break, and they were rewarded when Wyatt Crockett went offside and Donald goaled but two minutes later the Crusaders scored when Tanerau Latimer infringed at a tackle and Carter goaled. 13-9 after 18 minutes.
The Chiefs attacked but inside the Crusaders' 22, Donald knocked on and the Crusaders were off on the counter. Masaga saved a chip but lost the ball forward in the tackle. Fotuali'i picked up and went down the short side., He sold a dummy and then passed right. Payne played the ball back inside to Fotuali'i who enjoyed scoring his second try. 20-9 after 29 minutes/
It did not take long for the Chiefs to hit back. From a quick throw-in on their left they went right and strong Colin Bourke burst straight ahead. In a tackle Donald got the ball to Richard Kahui on his right and the centre raced over for a try which Donald converted in fine style. 20-16 after 33 minutes.
The Crusaders counterattacked off a knock-on, which they do so well. Sona Taumalolo was penalised at scrum and Cater made the half-time score 376 minutes.
It was brilliant - too good to last and it did not. The rain started and the match ground along as the Crusaders turned conservative. Sitiveni Sivivatu breathed some life into it and so did Leonard with a break, but most of it was close-quarters stuff.
There were just two scores in the half - a penalty apiece. When Mils Muliaina was [penalised at a tackle, Carter took the score to 26-16 after 53 minutes.
After a great run by Masaga, the Crusaders came back through phases and bashed at the lien. Read was strong and Richie McCaw was close as they attacked right on the line. The matter was referred to the television match official and it became a five-metre scrum in which the Crusaders were penalised.
The other score was a long-range penalty by Donald. Wind assisted he fired the ball some 50 metres and straight between the uprights after Zac Guildford was offside at a kick. That penalty brought the Chiefs into bonus-point range. 26-19 with 8 minutes to play.
After Carter missed with a drop attempt, Donald dropped out and the ball went into touch a couple of metres from the Crusaders' line but they survived.
The Chiefs' early successes have proved a false dawn. They won three away from home and have now lost two at home on the Waikato. The way things stand at present their three victories were over the weakest teams in the Super 14.
Man of the Match: Kahn Fotuali'i came in for injured Andy Ellis and flourished. He was right at the heart of everything the Crusaders did, clearing quickly from tackles, handling and running. Good as Dan Carter and Kieran Read were, Fotuali'i was the most effective player in the field.
The scorers:
For the Chiefs:
Try: Kahui
Con: Donald
Pens: Donald 4
For the Crusaders:
Tries: Fotuali'i 2
Cons: Carter 2
Pens: Carter 4
Teams:
Chiefs: 15 Mils Muliaina (captain), 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Callum Bruce, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Colin Bourke, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Romana Graham, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Nathan White, 2 Aled de Malmanche, 1 Sona Taumalolo.
Replacements: 16 Vern Kamo, 17 Ben Afeaki, 18 Culum Retallick, 19 Luke Braid, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Mike Delany, 22 Dwayne Sweeney.
Crusaders: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Kieran Read, 7 George Whitelock, 6 Richie McCaw
(captain), 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Ti'i Paulo, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Thomas Waldrom, 20 Willi Heinz, 21 Adam Whitelock, 22 Colin Slade.
Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Matthew Stanish (New Zealand)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
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