Super 'Saders in seventh heaven
Sat, 31 May 2008 11:35
Final farewell: Robbie Deans saluted by the Crusaders
Crusaders coach Robbie Deans received a fitting farewell as his team beat the Waratahs 20-12 in the Super 14 Final at AMI Stadium in Christchurch to secure their seventh Super Rugby title.
Man, we are told, does not depend on bread alone to keep alive. This match told us again that rugby football does not depend on tries alone for a healthy existence. There were just three in this match but it was a match full of life and energy.
It was a great Final - intense, exciting, absorbing, competitive, unrelenting - a place for heroes only.
The Crusaders won and deserved to win but the Waratahs were worthy opponents. They scored two tries to won and yet the final score looks comfortable. But the fireworks flung their glee into the cold Christchurch air and the Crusaders and all who rode with them rejoiced, the tension bursting into joy accentuated by the tension that had gone before it.
Funnily enough both sides performed better when the other side was on top. In the first half the Crusaders were well on top, enjoying three-quarters of possession and territory, and the Waratahs scored two tries and led at the break,. In the second half the Waratahs had the better of possession and territory and di not score a single point in the half while the Crusaders went on to win. At one stage the Crusaders were down to 14 men and still the Waratahs got no points. In the match the Crusaders made 122 tackles to the 93 of the Waratahs. That tells a real story.
In those tackles the Crusaders won the turnover count 13-8, some of them vital ones. They had the better of the scrums but there were only a dozen of those and they coped in the line-out, using the front. On the one occasion they went deeper they lost to the taller Waratahs. The Crusaders had the better of the free kick count - 10-8 and the penalty count 5-1, but that 1 was so important.
The score was 14-12 to the Crusaders when they booted downfield and started an hectic attack as the Waratahs scrambled on defence till eventually Wyatt Crockett got the touch down and the delight of believing he had scored. But no. The assistant referee told the referee that up the field Brad Thorn had punched Daniel Vickerman badly enough to have the try cancelled, the Crusaders penalised and Thorn sent to the sin bin. It was a bad moment for the tough lock.
That said, Phil Waugh of the Waratahs was fortunate indeed not to be sent to the sin bin late in the half when he grabbed Scott Hamilton by the collar of his jersey as the wing went to take an inside pass in a promising moment. Thorn cost his side seven points, Waugh three.
The Waratahs hit the ground running. They ran everything from everywhere, sometimes seeming to put themselves into dire trouble. But as long as Kurtley Beale was there they survived and did more than just hang one.
The first scrum of the match was to the Waratahs. It collapsed and was reset. Immediately the Waratah front row dived into the ground and the referee penalised them. Carter banged the kick over. 3-0 after 3 minutes.
The Waratahs attacked off a turnover and went into pick-'n-go down the left hand side. The ball came back to Beale and he lofted a perfect diagonal kick to the far right where Lachlan Turner leapt above Carter to catch the ball and plunger over for a try. It was not a difficult conversion but Beale missed it. 5-3 after 8 minutes.\
The Waratahs ran again and again. The Crusaders attacked far left, far right, far left. It was fast and furious, completely absorbing.
Two free kicks saw the Crusaders attacking the line. Mose Tuiali'i was close, then Brad Thorn. Then they went wide to the left, testing the Waratahs defence. It seemed that had to score when Casey Laulala did the defenders' job for them by turning inside with an overlap on his left. Waugh won a turnover and the Waratahs survived.
When Beale decided to run well inside his 22 and threw a horrible pass at Lote Tuqiri the Waratahs were under pressure but Beale was smart enough to save.
Again the Crusaders attacked and Carter passed to his right. Waugh intercepted the pass and pounded down the field. He was caught but in the helter-skelter the Waratahs got the ball, down the field to the right where Turner chipped over Hamilton, beat Andrew Ellis to the ball, toed it into the Crusaders in-goal and scored. This time Beale converted.
Incredible to relate, the Waratahs led 12-3 after 26 minutes.
When hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau curled over a tackle he was penalised and Carter made it 12-6 after 32 minutes.
The Waratahs attacked but, after putting pressure on successive Waratahs tine-outs, the Crusaders came back and sent right wing Kade Poki on an overlap on the left. Beale stopped him dead but the Crusaders spun the ball to the far left where Richie McCaw hauled down a high pass to give Tuiali'i a perfect pass for a try in the corner.
Half-time came at 12-11 to the Waratahs but with the Crusaders looking much the stronger side. Against the Hurricanes in the semifinal they had pulled away in the second half after softening their opponents up in the first half. Would that happen again.
It seemed as if that was about to happen when Leon MacDonald started a counterattack and Ellis seemed certain to score till Wycliff Palu fell on him. But the Crusaders went far right where Tim Bateman broke. Dean Mumm tackled him High and Carter gave the Crusaders the lead nearly 40 minutes after they had lost it. 14-212 after 46 minutes.
The Waratahs went on several attacks. Once Beale chipped and Ellis saved with a mark running back. They went through phases and Tuqiri was close but Thorn tackled him and Hamilton won a turnover. Luke Burgess grubbered and Hamilton ran the ball out for a five-metre line-out to the Waratahs. The Crusaders repelled the invaders and won a free kick. They tapped and passed but knocked-on and Beale was over the goal-line in a flash but the referee shunted the Waratahs back 10 metres.
The Waratahs kept on attacking but the defence was secure and eventually it was the Crusaders who "scored" and would have done so but for Thorn's indiscretion.
While he was in the sin bin there was no score.
Turner kicked a long touch, but the ball had been taken back. This produced a line-out to the Crusaders inside the Waratahs 22. The Crusaders drove a long maul to the line with Tuiali'i close at the posts but the Waratahs won a turnover and tried to play. The Crusaders had another maul from a line-out and this time Carter sent a drop flying over the posts. 17-12 after 70 minutes. The Waratahs needed at least a try in the last ten minutes.
They did not look like getting one.
With six minutes left Waugh grabbed Hamilton when he did not have the ball. 20-12. The Waratahs now needed more than a try but they were pinned in their own territory and when Ellis kicked out it was the signal for the fireworks to start - and for a riderless horse to go galloping in consternation around the field.
Man of the Match: They were all heroes to produce such a Final but our Man of the \Match is tall, relentless, skilful; flank, Kieran Read of the Crusaders.
Moment of the Match: Lachlan Turner's first try and that perfect kick from Kurtley Beale.
Sadly the moment that will probably be best remembered and most talked about will probably Phil Waugh's speech after the match when he thanked the medical staff, his team and their supporters without a mention of the coaching staff. He praised "our guys despise the distractions off the field that went on all year". He then introduced his team and as an begrudging afterthought called up the coaching staff. One can probably take it that Ewen McKenzie will not be coaching the Waratahs next year. There was a great contrast in Richie McCaw's generous praise of his departing coach, Robbie Deans.
Villain of the Match: Brad Thorn for what he cost his team but more so Phil Waugh for his cynical grabbing of Scott Hamilton and for making such a great occasion the opportunity to score such miserable points.
Scorers:
For the Crusaders:
Try: Tuiali'i
Pens: Carter 4
DG: Carter
For the Waratahs:
Tries: Turner 2
Con: Beale
Yellow card: Brad Thorn (Crusaders, 55 - Punching)
Teams:
Crusaders: 15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Kade Poki, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Tim Bateman, 11 Scott Hamilton, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Andrew Ellis, 8 Mose Tuiali'i, 7 Richard McCaw (captain), 6 Kieran Read, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Ti'i
Paulo, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Steve Fualau, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Reuben Thorne, 19 Nasi Manu, 20 Kahn Fotuali'i, 21 Stephen Brett, 22 Sean Maitland.
Waratahs: 15 Sam Norton-Knight, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Tom Carter, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh (captain), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Adam Freier, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Will Caldwell, 19 Beau Robinson, 20 Brett Sheehan, 21 Matt Carraro, 22 Timana Tahu.
Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
