What counted on the score board was a victory to the home team, with the Crusaders beating a tenacious Highlanders side 32-17, but that was not all that went on in Christchurch at the weekend.
First the old guard from both franchises gave the crowd a thrill of a curtain raiser, the Crusaders victorious with a tally of 58-29. Then despite being under strength, with McCaw, Flynn, Crockett, Jack, Crotty & Poki watching from the stands, the Crusaders showed why they are so familiar with the S14 trophy. To be fair the Highlanders were no slouches themselves with Michael Hobbs (gosh he looks awfully like some other NZ rugby identity doesn’t he ?) coming back to record a 17-3 burst midway through the second half, but the Crusaders fought back with their usual grit & determination.
The day was epic throughout. A military helicopter flew in before the game, accompanied by the classic opera piece “Ride of the Valkyries”. Over 23,000 fans were entertained by an open and flowing game, which came with the necessary drama and excitement but it was the end of the game that would have had kids at home begging their parents to let them come to the next match at AMI Stadium.
In an extraordinary sight not witnessed for some years now, fans were welcomed onto the field at the end of the match to mingle with the players they had come to see – a bit of genuinely smart marketing. So, all in all, the Crusaders won both on and off the field in the opening round.
Highlanders dissapointed me after a lot of people talked them up pre-season.
Was an away game against the Crusaders I suppose…
Saders barely bagged their bonus point for tries, scoring it off the last movement of the game….
In other words, are the Crusaders sooooooooooooooooo good, or were they playing an “Also-Ran” bunch of Hillbillies (who beat the Bulls convincingly last year but flattered to deceive as far as the rest were concerned) or were they playing a Team who is going to get somewhere in the Competition themselves.
That question is open for debate…. but I would not jump for joy if I was the Saders.
Having said that, only the Bulls and Saders bagged 5 Log Points… and you cannot get more than 5 Log points from a game, so I guess it was mission accomplished.
The score line with the Crusaders game was very flattering,there were only a few points in the game up until 10 mins to go.
3 – Winston, Yip the Landers really came back at Saders.
RP nice to see the NZ teams try their utmost to keep Rugby as the major sport there. This will build up more towards the RWC next year. Surely thats the right thing to do, get the NZ public behind rugby and especial y the ABs in their World Cup build up.
Crusaders needed a bit of opposition, winning every year does make your supporters arrogant. For that the Bulls must be thanked. Also the vibe at Loftus was n good guideline to follow.
The Bulls strive to follow the Crusaders success story so why not take a leave from our book too.
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