Super Rugby: Crusaders vs. Bulls in Christchurch (16/03/2013)

[cyclone101]

Worst performance ever by the bulls! Not one thing that worked, our school teams could beat them if they play like that. Almost like they wanted to lose, not tackling, not cleaning out, not keeping possession, not capitalising on the saders faults. Bad bad game from them.

I want to say well done saders, but with that many handling errors any half decent team would have beaten them with a stick. But they were by far the best team on the field! But I don't think this was their comeback appearance today, they need to sharpen up drastically if they want to get somewhere. If they play a team that can keep possession they will loose again with their lack of handling.

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[smartcooky]

Final score flattered the Bulls. Six tries to one tells the story better. There was only one team in it from 30 minutes on.

The Bulls really need to find a better No. 10 than Morne Steyn - one that isn't who isn't so one-dimensional. I don't think I saw him take the ball to the line once all night. He obviously doesn't like the prospect of being tackled. When it looked like he might actually be tackled when under pressure (not enough time to kick) he chucked a "ward 9" pass to a team-mate who got hammered. I reckon he owes his team-mate a beer for that one.

NOTE OF CONCERN: Why is it that, when the Bulls have got a rolling maul just started, I saw so many Crusader forwards standing off.

When the opposition have got you going backwards, all eight forwards need to get in there and push, not hang around flapping their arms like seagulls on the way to the local dump.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Wow!! Well done Crusaders!!


They look like the saders of old!!! They dominated tonight, no team would have stood a chance against them tonight!!

My Bulls team just can't shrug off that second-week slump on tour. Nonetheless it could've been worse. Just glad to see Morne Steyn and Pierre Spies continue with their good form.

Losing Wynand Olivier so early was a big loss, Louis Fouche just isn't quality enough for me. Our scrums were terrible, Chilliboy was dreadful at lineout time, and our ball retention was as shocking as Freuen's in the beginning of the game.

Oh well the tough part of the tour is now done.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Good win by the Saders

 

[dasNdanger]

Worst performance ever by the bulls! Not one thing that worked, our school teams could beat them if they play like that. Almost like they wanted to lose, not tackling, not cleaning out, not keeping possession, not capitalising on the saders faults. Bad bad game from them.

I want to say well done saders, but with that many handling errors any half decent team would have beaten them with a stick. But they were by far the best team on the field! But I don't think this was their comeback appearance today, they need to sharpen up drastically if they want to get somewhere. If they play a team that can keep possession they will loose again with their lack of handling.

I agree. I saw a lot of sloppiness out there (and I only caught the last half), and feel that this was, perhaps, more of a failure on the part of the Bulls defense than a success on the part of the Saders attack. They did look better overall, but they still were not the tight team you expect to see in the red and black.

Still, I will say that it looks like they are finding their pace, and I expect (well, hope) that they will soon have all the bugs worked out and be in top form once again. It is a long season, and I'd rather see a slow, building start than to come out guns a-blazin', only to burn out by mid-season.



das

 

[Gena_ZA]

Morne with good form..., thanks for the humor, duly needed

 

[cyclone101]

Ok, my phone is screwing with me

 

[smartcooky]

I agree about the handling, but I think that came from trying to rush things.

They blew several clear try-scoring opportunities trying to rush the passing when simple catch & pass was all that was needed. There was one obvious one on the left wing side near the end of the match; a 6 to 2 overlap, and they blew it.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

I agree about the handling, but I think that came from trying to rush things.

They blew several clear try-scoring opportunities trying to rush the passing when simple catch & pass was all that was needed. There was one obvious one on the left wing side near the end of the match; a 6 to 2 overlap, and they blew it.

I think that one was a case of having too many numbers!

 

[Aedaphon]

The Crusaders breathed life into their Super Rugby campaign, defeating the previously unbeaten Bulls to register their first win of the season in their first game of the year in Christchurch after back-to-back away losses to the Blues and the Hurricanes.The hosts scored three tries in each half, but ultimately they won the contest with a five-minute burst midway through the first stanza in which they scored two tries to cap multiple-phase passages of play after cruelling themselves previously with handling errors that had halted momentum.
Robbie Fruean, one of the players previously guilty of spilling easy possession, scored the opening try afterDaniel Carter and Morne Steyn had swapped penalty goals in the opening quarter, the centre finding the stripe after 11 phases iced when Israel Dagg freed an arm while held up to offload to Carter, who gave the final pass.
Kieran Read almost immediately rumbled over one-out from a maul after another spell of sustained pressure, the Crusaders captain showing great strength and presence of mind to free an arm and dot the ball while on his back at the bottom of a maul driven over the try line.
The Bulls worked themselves back into the game through the boot of Steyn, the fly-half kicking goals after the hosts were penalised twice for offside at the ruck, but the Crusaders extended their advantage with a wonderful try after the bell at the end of the first half. The Crusaders put together 17 phases in more than two-and-a-half minutes of possession, moving the ball left and right to stretch the Bulls' defence past breaking point before Carter gifted winger Johnny McNicholl a free run over the stripe for a converted try.
"That first half probably showed our intent," Read said after the match. "We probably didn't look up to the board as much as we needed to, but the effort there was great and then we finished off at the end of that first half. That 10 minutes before and after half-time is important, and we set a standard there. It was nice to increase our lead and put a bit of pressure on them."
Read said the players had not been concerned after their early mistakes.
"We just weren't quite there, but certainly the intent was great and we showed when we got it right we can be really dangerous." Crusaders looked as if they can win an eighth Super Rugby ***le

The Bulls were first to score in the second half, claiming hope with another goal after George Whitelock was penalised for not releasing the ball carrier, and jangling Crusaders nerves as they had lost to the Hurricanes in the previous week despite topping the try count, but the hosts put the game to bed almost immediately with their bonus-point fourth try.
Whitelock reefed the ball from Wynand Olivier in a maul, and the Crusaders took maximum advantage from the turnover two phases later when Tom Marshall isolated Juandre Kruger in the defensive line; the winger easily ran around the second-rower and then ran through a tackle from Zane Kirchner.
The Crusaders scored again with 20 minutes to play, Wyatt Crockett rumbling over to gain full reward from both a great turnover secured by Luke Whitelock and another searing break from Marshall.
Deon Stegmann gained a consolation try for the visitors, scoring from a rolling maul after talking an attacking lineout, Steyn landing the conversion to maintain his 100% record with the boot.
Crusaders replacement scrum-half Willi Heinz rounded out the scoring with a converted try that demonstrated the strength of the home bench as Adam and Luke Whitelock were also involved heavily in the multiple phases.
Bulls captain Pierre Spies paid tribute to the Crusaders, saying: "They were on song tonight and obviously very desperate to win ... we couldn't get going and they kept us out of our game. In the lineouts they were very good. The scrums they also put us under pressure. Also, we couldn't get out of our half. We kept playing in our own half and you can't build any proper momentum so credit to them for that."

http://www.espnscrum.com/super-rugby-2013/rugby/story/178808.html

Who do they let write these things now?

 

[sifplay]

Bulls made about the same number of changes, check your facts

In the Quiet words of the Virgin Mary, Come again? Don't understand your logic as they were still playing a almost full strength Saders side.