It was tough to watch at times, but we beat the Blues, got the right result from the Sharks v Bulls game, and now we’re in the semi-finals.

The Blues game was one all of us coaches were a little concerned about. They have such talent in their team that we knew if they clicked we could be in trouble. We didn’t read too much into their previous matches this season, we knew they would turn it on against the Crusaders.

The TMO decisions (Michael Paterson’s try disallowed and Isaia Toeava’s given) didn’t go our way and I’m relieved the match didn’t hinge on them.

The way the guys responded and got into a position to provide Leon MacDonald with an opportunity to score the drop goal was fantastic.

What can I say about Leon? Again he showed his worth to our team and we wouldn’t be in this position without him. Remember that late penalty goal from wide out against the Cheetahs to score us a losing bonus point? We knew it could be crucial and so it proved. Without it we wouldn’t have qualified.

Now we’re up against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. They are always tough to play there but we’ll go into this game quietly confident. It’s knockout rugby from here on but really we’ve been playing that for the last five or so weeks.

We’ve been bolstered by the return of Colin Slade, Ben Franks and Brad Thorn and the guys are in good spirits.

We are based in Johannesburg until Friday, when we travel to Pretoria.

The way the players have pulled together after a tough start to the season has made us coaches very proud. We lost a lot of experience and talent through injuries but the guys who have come in have stepped up and taken their opportunities, as we knew they would.

Really, having got into this position, we have nothing to lose.

We know our fans in New Zealand will be up in the early hours of Sunday to watch us and we aim to put on a good show for you.

Thanks for your support.

Todd Blackadder
Crusaders Head Coach