Match Reports

If ever there was a performance to prove the rugby cliché ‘a game of two halves’ true, it was the Crusaders’ performance against the Cheetahs on Saturday night.  Fans could be forgiven for switching channels at halftime to watch the Black Caps win their quarter-final, because nobody would have foreseen the relentless run of seven tries in the last 30 minutes of the match to give the Crusaders a comprehensive win.

To view the match highlights please click here.

The Crusaders made a shaky start to the game, with a yellow card to Kieron Fonotia for taking a player out in the air, a missed penalty kick and some poor execution.  There was some relief in the 18^th minute when Jordan Taufua reached over the line for the first try of the match, but the Cheetahs came back with a double of their own to take the halftime lead.

First Francois Venter collected the loose ball and ran 55 metres to score between the posts, then Johann Sadie scored 3 minutes later, putting the score at 7-14 in the Cheetahs’ favour. 

A penalty kick from Dan Carter just before halftime narrowed the margin to 10-14.

Whatever the Crusaders coaches said to the team at halftime must have struck a nerve, because the fumbling team that played the first half disappeared completely to be replaced by a new confident, decisive Crusaders team once the second half got underway.

A high tackle on Nemani Nadolo as he crashed towards the line resulted in a yellow card for Willie le Roux and allowed the Crusaders to set up a scrum just five metres out.  The Crusaders showed their dominance in the scrum and earned themselves a penalty try when the referee decided the Cheetahs had collapsed it on purpose. 

That marked the beginning of the end for the Cheetahs, as the Crusaders’ try-scoring machine kicked into top gear for the first time this season and ran rampant over the visitors to for the remainder of the game.

Israel Dagg went over just two minutes after the penalty try, followed by Dan Carter a minute later and then Nemani Nadolo another minute after that.

The Cheetahs were again yellow carded with 12 minutes to play, when Coenie Oosthuisen again infringed at the scrum.  That spurred another try-scoring extravaganza from the Crusaders with Jordan Taufua going over for his second of the night, followed by David Havilli’s debut try and then Dan Carter’s second. 

The 57 -14 score-line will give the Crusaders a very useful confidence boost as they head away to South Africa for an extremely tough tour against the Bulls and the Sharks.