Sports After Dark

The old “game of two halves” cliché certainly applied on Friday night as the Crusaders beat the Waratahs 34-7 at AMI Stadium in Christchurch.

The first half was a titanic struggle as neither side was able to gain the ascendancy, although the Crusaders had the better of the half gaining a two-to-one territorial advantage. Unlike some of the uglier games seen this season, the first 40 minutes was a clash of two evenly matched teams, neither being able to bend the other.

Keeping the attack tight, the home team held the ball for long periods of time but were unable to break the blue wall in front of them. The intensity of both teams’ defensive lines was evident, making bruising hits and forcing a number of errors from their opponents.

The Waratahs had a couple of chances themselves but were unable to really stretch the Crusaders. Wing Lote Tuqiri was lucky to stay on the field after a giving away a cynical penalty late in the first spell, but referee Craig Joubert decided against a card.

Two Dan Carter penalties were the only difference between the two teams at the break, and both coaches would have been happy with the match so far, perhaps hoping to tighten up their accuracy on attack as it appeared the first team to score a try would be in the driver’s seat.

Clearly the half time talks worked as both teams lifted their game, the Waratahs in particular looking like a different team. It was the visitors who crossed the line first, halfback Brett Sheehan offloading in the tackle to set up a try to Wycliff Palu, Kurtley Beale’s conversion gave his team the lead.

The Crusaders struck back almost immediately through Casey Laulala, playing his 100th game in red and black, who claimed a mid field bomb from a crowd of three Waratahs and ran 40 metres to score.

After that try the Crusaders muscled up their already tight attack, holding the ball for phase after phase as they inched their way closer to the Waratahs’ line, and were rewarded with tries to No. 8 Mose Tuiali’i and replacement prop Wyatt Crockett.

On the stroke of full time the Crusaders picked up their fourth try and a bonus point after a rugby league style cross field bomb fell to Scott Hamilton who strolled over the line.

Crusaders’ coach Robbie Deans was happy with the result but not his team’s performance, noting that his team may have taken a few too many chances, but adding that was not something he would discourage. Youngster Tim Bateman, who took the place of the injured Stephen Brett, was singled out for praise, “A lot of questions were asked of him (Bateman) and he showed that he’s more than able at this level,” said Deans.

The Crusaders travel to Wellington next week for a game against the Hurricanes on Friday, while the Waratahs head home for a date with the Cheetahs.

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The Crusaders topple Waratahs in tough contest by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.