Sports After Dark

On what could be their last chance to impress the All Blacks’ selectors, the Crusaders’ young guns clinically dismantled the much larger Bulls.

After a week off the Crusaders came back firing, breaking the line seemingly at will and pushing around a much larger forward pack on their way to a 32-10 victory on their home ground in Christchurch. With several Crusaders likely to make way for returning All Blacks next week, almost every player took their chances in the Crusaders’ best outing of the season.

The Crusaders showed their intentions to run the ball from anywhere in the first minute of the game, attempting to run the ball out from their own goal line. The high tempo game plan soon paid dividends when Steven Brett kicked his first penalty of the evening.

A mere three minutes later the Crusaders once again moved the ball wide, first to the right, then back to the left where flanker Johnny Leo’o crashed over for the first try of the match. As the game settled down the massive Bulls forward pack, who outweighed their opponents by over 50kgs, began to assert themselves and were rewarded when Derek Hougaard kicked the Bulls’ first penalty of the game. Hougaard would miss another penalty goal a few minutes later.

The frantic pace of the Crusaders’ game plan began to tire the big Bulls’ forwards, but even after another Brett penalty the Bulls continued to hold their own. Ironically it was the Bulls’ backs who made the mistake just before half time, first missing a tackle on Crusaders’ fullback Scott Hamilton, then failed to claim the ball after Hamilton kicked, gifting winger Rico Gear the Crusaders’ second try. After Brett’s conversion the Crusaders went into the half time break up by 18-3.

After the half time break the Bulls just forgot how to tackle. First three Bulls missed tackles on Tim Bateman as he scored the Crusaders’ third try, then Johnny Leo’o was able to power past two Bulls’ tacklers leading to Hamilton scoring the fourth and bonus point try for the Crusaders, their second try in two minutes. Brett converted both tries, giving the Crusaders an almost unassailable lead.

The Bulls finally crossed the Crusaders line through their forwards, after several drives close to the line Wickus van Heerden crashed over. Hougaard’s conversion hit both uprights before going over.

Gear should have had a second try on the end of a great back line movement, but lost the ball as he tried to ground it. With the result beyond doubt both coaches elected to empty their benches, and with so many reserves on the field the game lost a great deal of structure in the final quarter.

Several Crusaders’ players impressed, particularly lock Michael Paterson who seemed to be all over the field, first five Brett who will likely be replaced by All Black Dan Carter for the remainder of the season and Gear who went looking for work all night. Number 8 Mose Tuiali’i also played well for the Crusaders, breaking tackles and distributing ball from the base of the scrum.

For the Bulls this was largely a forgettable game. After two good wins in Australia, their big but immobile forward pack was exposed and with captain Viktor Matfield on the bench, a lack of leadership was obvious.

Despite their loss, the Bulls remain in the top four and the Crusaders move to within one point of the top four. One win from the two remaining tour matches for the Bulls will make their road to the semi finals easier, while the Crusaders next few opponents are in the bottom half of the table.

Similar Posts:

• Watch out Stormers, here come the All Blacks
• Crusaders slay Cheetahs but are left with injury trouble
• Crusaders romp to easy win despite All Black rust
• Young Crusaders shine as they survive being thrown to the Lions
• Junior All Blacks ring the changes ahead of Fiji clash

The Crusaders’ young stars shine as the Bulls stumble by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.