Super Rugby: Chiefs - Crusaders in Hamilton (6/7/2012)

[Darwin]

Wonderful skills by Ellis sets up a try for Romano.

EDIT: Chiefs strike back with a try by Retallick, setup by Kerr-Barlow....

 

[austingtir]

Suprised the chiefs are still in it at the half. Richie actually sounded a bit worried in the way he was trying to sway the ref at the end there.

 

[Darwin]

guna sound like a broken record im watching 17minutes in and tamiafuna is monstering ben franks at every opportunity. ben franks = totally overated!!!

ben franks = totally destroyed the chiefs scrum!!!!!

EDIT: The commentators are all complete muppets who have no idea of the laws

 

[cyclone101]

Bryce lawrence strikes again.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Bryce lawrence strikes again.

he's such a ****ing moron

 

[Darwin]

Great try by SBW!

Bryce lawrence strikes again.

What did he do wrong? It looked like a try to me!

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Great try by SBW!



What did he do wrong? It looked like a try to me!

Hugo Ellis was short and momentum has stopped. At that point he would have needed to try and set it back or been held up. He only got over because Whitelock came in and shoved him over, which counts as an illegal movement

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Great try by SBW!



What did he do wrong? It looked like a try to me!

Hugo Ellis was short and momentum has stopped. At that point he would have needed to try and set it back or been held up. He only got over because Whitelock came in and shoved him over, which counts as an illegal movement

 

[Darwin]

Hugo Ellis was short and momentum has stopped. At that point he would have needed to try and set it back or been held up. He only got over because Whitelock came in and shoved him over, which counts as an illegal movement

Hugo Ellis? I assume you mean Andy

Ellis was tackled short, then Whitelock came and drove him over the line. I don't know how this would count as an illegal movement, as Ellis didn't actually make any movement himself at all - it is not illegal to be driven forward by a supporting player if you are on the ground (indeed you see that happen frequently at the breakdown).

EDIT: Epic finish! SBW blew it at the end by going himself when there was a clear overlap. Final score 28-21 to the Crusaders.

 

[cyclone101]

Saders defense held up strong.

 

[nickdnz]

Well, this match had everything that annoyed me, even if I'm happy with the outcome.

Zac Guildford was a freaking joke. Never passed when the option was on and almost cost his team a try with an amazingly bad pass.

The Chiefs attack was woeful and had no creativity. In those last few minutes there were so many options on the outside but the forwards were all waaaaay to selfish. When they finally got the overlap to draw the game up, Sonny Bill Williams takes it up himself instead of giving it to the 4 attackers outside him. I was amazed. Anyone else think Lelia Masaga looked very good when he came on?

Overall, it was a game with very high intensity but some of the errors and decision making was extremely poor.

To top it off, Steve Walsh had a shocker and Bryce Lawrence totally messed up the Any Ellis try.

Speaking of which, it was the one thing Justin Marshall said that I agreed with and he never stopped talking. The dude signed my rugby ball in the Warehouse when I was about 7 years old, was genuinely one of my favourite players, but now I wish I could rip out his larynx with a rusty weed puller.

 

[Darwin]

Well, this match had everything that annoyed me, even if I'm happy with the outcome.

Zac Guildford was a freaking joke. Never passed when the option was on and almost cost his team a try with an amazingly bad pass.

The Chiefs attack was woeful and had no creativity. In those last few minutes there were so many options on the outside but the forwards were all waaaaay to selfish. When they finally got the overlap to draw the game up, Sonny Bill Williams takes it up himself instead of giving it to the 4 attackers outside him. I was amazed. Anyone else think Lelia Masaga looked very good when he came on?

Overall, it was a game with very high intensity but some of the errors and decision making was extremely poor.

Really? I thought he had a pretty good game (barring one obvious mistake) - he was all over the park, and cleaned up a lot of ball. I thought he was easily the pick of the wings on display. Masaga looked very sharp when he came on - he needs to be starting for the Chiefs, as he is there best wing in my opinion.

I agree the Chiefs seemed to lack creativity in the backs. I don't think Cruden in 100% - I'd be tempted to give him the weekend off against the Canes to allow him to get back to 100% for the playoffs.

 

[Icemn]

i hated the section where there were a lot of aimless kicking rugby ping pong…

reminded me of SA rugby :vomit:

 

[psychic duck]

 

[big ginger 8]

Like how no one mentioned Taumolo's pace everyones just so used to a prop moving at high speeds.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Was following the game at work, pity the ref denied that one Chief Try. Bit upset with the result.

 

[Sam Owen]

Like how no one mentioned Taumolo's pace everyones just so used to a prop moving at high speeds.

Wish he scored that. Its hard work for a super heavy weight to sprint and make impressive ground and then instead of having his hands on his knees totally puffed out, he got up and jogged back casually telling the reff his wing got it down. Southren hemispheres best attacking prop at the moment, he has no equal.

Sonny, why didnt you pass the ball?....yes, pass the ball, the thing your usually good at argh.

Its been a good week thus far for sport (league, tennis, boxing etc...go Spider Silva!).

 

[admartian]

Just saw the HL of the game on the news; and I must say, SBW seems to be running less like a giraffe. Two awesome busting runs.

Still needs to get his head on straight, and wished we knew where he stands - but I like the progress.



Oh and that Taumalolo run was brilliant. Should've tried to just shove the defender instead of the kick.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

If I were a Chiefs fan I'd be so mad with SBW for butchering that last chance at the end. It was very egocentric of him to try and do it himself with 3 players outside

 

[Larksea]

wasn't sonny's best work and he was obviously livid with himself for it. But in his defense he has scored two tries in similar situations in recent games, one in that game.

interesting game, It really could have gone either way. I thought overall the chiefs were the better team but their really bad start cost them the match just as much as some poor officiating and an absolute shocker from the TMO

in the end I'm happy with the result, crusaders needed the points, chiefs could spare them but now need to beat the Canes with a bonus point to get overall top spot which goes most of the way to actually deciding the ***le. Stormers seem to have a great deal of trouble scoring a 4 try bonus point but they have the rebels last so by all rights they should. Doesn't seem to matter though yes they win most games but they don't seem to out away the bottom feeders with regularity.

I think Renee has been waiting too late to bring his impact players on. Leonard and Masanga made a big difference and an extra 10min from them I think would have been enough to get the points. barlow has been brilliant but Leonard is also having one of his best seasons ever and deserves more time and even starts.

Barlow and Retalick were good, I also thought Horrell was very very impressive, man he is good... Seriously I don't think he would look out of place in an Al Black squad. He just has such great hands and defenders always seem to have problems putting him down and stopping him from offloading but he's not massive. He just seems to hit gaps and keep defenders guessing. And he well and truely kept Robbie Fruen in check on defense.

I thought Messam had a very big game as well. He obviously painted a target on McCaw which was interesting. He Smashed McCaw a number of times I think twice resulting in turnovers and a couple other times McCaw was verrry slow getting up.

Chiefs were better in most areas but the Crusaders had a good advantage in the scrums and a massive advantage in the lineouts. Obviously Clarke was missed big time, I think if the chiefs had just managed an average game at the lineout they would have won fairly easily. They will need to take a serious look at their Scrum and Lineout before the finals though in that area the Crusaders are the benchmark with I think the best tight 5 in the comp and maybe even the best loose forward Trio mostly off the back of Kieran Read being maybe the best player on the planet right now.

Cruden has been a bit rusty lately, missed some kicks he should have got, missed touch on some penalties that have really hurt the chiefs. Playing every minute of every game for the chiefs may be taking it's toll on Cruden. I know Cruden is Renee's golden child. Interestingly he's the only chief to have taken a shot at goal this season. He's been great but to me he looks like he's slowing down, starting to make mistakes. And recently he's crept into the top missed tackle list as the only chief on that list.

overall great game by the players, finals intensity. Pitty the refs could not keep up.