Crusaders
Crusaders (6) 9 / 26 (18) Chiefs (Final Score)
The Crusaders and Chiefs did battle in Super Rugby at
AMI Stadium, Christchurch at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Sonny Bill Williams
Chiefs head coach Dave Rennie has made 5 changes to his starting 15 for Friday’s clash with the Crusaders in Christchurch.
Brad Weber starts at scrumhalf and Sonny Bill Williams and Charlie Ngatai return from injury to take their place in the midfield.
Tim Nanai-Williams comes onto the right wing with Tom Marshall moving to fullback while Michael Fitzgerald, Augustine Pulu and Andrew Horrell all join the reserves.
The Chiefs won the corresponding fixture between these sides, 40 / 16 in Hamilton in Round 3. Despite that result, Rennie expects a tough battle against the 7-time champions.
“The Crusaders are a quality side,” he said.
“Our previous encounters with them have been of test match intensity and this is a must win game for both sides to remain in touch with the Hurricanes.”
Todd Blackadder
Crusaders boss Todd Blackadder has made 5 changes to his starting 15 for their clash with the Chiefs in Christchurch on Friday.
Wyatt Crockett and Nepo Laulala will be this week’s starting props, with Joe Moody and Owen Franks acting as front-row cover off the bench..
Luke Romano returns at lock as Jimmy Tupou moves to the bench while Richie McCaw and Matt Todd have again rotated so that McCaw starts.
The only change in the backs is at inside centre, where Dan Carter takes Ryan Crotty’s spot. Crotty is recovering from a head knock received in last weekend’s loss to the Highlanders.
Kieran Read
Kieran Read has changed his mind and declined the opportunity to play at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
All Black superstar Read initially had his mind set on joining the New Zealand Sevens team to play in the Brazil Olympic Games, but after lengthy talks with All Black coach Steve Hanson, he has opted to concentrate on the 15-man game.
Read’s decision not to chase an Olympic medal, would have also been a relief for Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder.
Super Rugby players who elect to play the shorter version of the game are expected to miss approximately 6 Rounds of the competition, meaning Blackadder would have been without his skillful skipper for a 3rd of the Super Rugby season if he had chosen to play Sevens.
“I was keen to go Rio but I won’t be,” Read said at the Crusaders training session on Wednesday.
“It would be a hell of an opportunity but I will probably focus on making the All Blacks team.”
Ryan Crotty
Ryan Crotty has been ruled out of the Crusaders’ clash with the Chiefs as a precautionary measure, after he suffered a head knock against the Highlanders last weekend.
It is not all bad news for the Crusaders though, as star flyhalf Dan Carter could well fill the vacant No 12 spot after appearing off the bench against the Highlanders.
Injuries have played their part in marring the All Black playmaker’s season thus far, but he should be fit enough to start on the weekend.
Crotty’s absence is also offset by the return of loosehead prop Wyatt Crockett and lock Luke Romano, who were rested for the Highlanders’ game.
Colin Slade
All Black and Crusaders back Colin Slade has signed with the Section Paloise Rugby Club (Pau), departing following the World Cup.
Slade said he had not found it easy to come to the decision to play overseas but he was now excited about the opportunity.
“This is certainly not a decision taken lightly. I have given it a lot of thought and considered all my options, but I am now satisfied that moving to Pau after this year is the right decision for me at this point in my life,” Slade said.
Crusaders (14) 20 / 25 (13) Highlanders (Final Score)
The Crusaders and Highlanders did battle in Super Rugby at
AMI Stadium, Christchurch at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Ben Franks
Dan Carter has returned to the Crusaders team via the bench, after coach Todd Blackadder named an unchanged backline for their match against the Highlanders in Christchurch on Saturday.
There are 3 changes in the forwards, with Joe Moody and Owen Franks the starting props this week, and Alex Hodgman and Nepo Laulala providing cover from the bench.
Jimmy Tupou starts at lock alongside Sam Whitelock, and Scott Barrett is in the reserves.
This will be Franks’ 100th game for the Crusaders, which coach Todd Blackadder says is a remarkable achievement that will be celebrated by the whole team.
Highlanders Head Coach Jamie Joseph has kept faith with the team that beat the Stormers by naming an unchanged line up for Saturday’s Super Rugby derby against the Crusaders.
The Crusaders are fresh off a demolition job on the Sharks in Durban while the Highlanders return from a week off for the bye.
Traditionally a close encounter both sides will be keen to maintain their recent success heading into the halfway point of the competition.
Kieran Read
Crusaders captain Kieran Read has said, despite his teams emphatic victory over the Sharks in Durban, some of his players need lessons in fair play.
The Crusaders were shown 3 Yellow Cards, that all overlapped, in the 1st half, but little damage was done as the Sharks squandered any advantage by receiving a Red Card of their own.
Although there was no damage done to the scoreboard while the Crusaders were down to 12 men, in fact, points were picked up, Read is still not happy with the those individual’s actions.
It was not ideal,” Read said after the match.
“We have to learn a few lessons, those individuals especially,”
However, the captain was happy to see that those loss of personnel allowed the team to galvanize rather than fall apart.
Sharks (3) 10 / 52 (28) Crusaders (Final Score)
The Cell C Sharks and Crusaders did battle in Super Rugby at
Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban at 15:00 SA Time (13:00 GMT, Sunday 02:00 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Dan Carter
Crusaders and All Black No 10 Dan Carter has returned home from South Africa on paternity leave to await the birth of his 2nd child.
This means Carter will miss the Crusaders’ Super Rugby clash against the Cell C Sharks in Durban this Saturday (15:00 SA Time kick-off).
3 Consecutive wins and Top spot on the Vodacom Super Rugby South African Conference table should have left Cell C Sharks director of rugby Gary Gold beaming from ear to ear on Saturday night, but he wasn’t.
While he has been justifiably well satisfied with the character shown by his team in scoring an away win under huge pressure against the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, in edging out the Chiefs when at a disadvantage in numbers because of red cards, and in coming from behind against the Western Force, Gold argues that his team is making life more difficult for itself than it needs to be.
The Sharks won 15 / 9 against the Western Force at Growthpoint Kings Park this past weekend, but it was a close run thing and his team had to make use of several get out of jail cards in order to prevail in a game they should have been expected to win comfortably.
“We are making a habit of winning close games and some might see that as a positive in that it means we are creating a winning habit after being in a bit of a hole a few weeks ago, but the bottom line for me is that it should not have been so close and I am not happy about that,” said Gold.
Nick Mallett
Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has noted that Crusaders flank Richie McCaw is getting caught out more by referees.
McCaw was penalised a few times in his side’s 31 / 19 Super Rugby defeat to the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday night.
Mallett analysed the game in the SuperSport studio afterwards.
He said: “Richie McCaw was penalised 3 or 4 times. He’s just getting caught by referees now for doing the things that he’s been doing so effectively over the last 5 to 10 years.
The Vodacom Bulls picked up their 4th victory of the Super Rugby season as they beat the Crusaders 31 / 19 in an entertaining game at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
Fans and viewers were treated to a wonderful game to round off the weekend as the Bulls got the better of their Kiwi opponents, thus moving above them up to 7th in the overall standings and 2nd in the South African Conference, only 1 point behind the Cell C Sharks but with a game in hand compared to them.
In a week where the Bulls lost their best workhorse in Lappies Labuschagne, and lost 2 Springboks in Jan Serfontein (hip) and Arno Botha (hamstring) before kick-off, it wouldn’t be untoward to expect them to be under an immense amount of pressure.
But the 2 players who came in at the 11th hour – midfielder Burger Odendaal and flank Hanro Liebenberg – stepped up to make an indelible impression that they not only belong at this level, but have a number of big games in their future with the way they played.
It was a thrilling 1st half in Pretoria as the Bulls showed their intent to keep the ball in hand, which paid off after 3 minutes when wing Francois Hougaard finished off in the corner. Handré Pollard could not add the extras but it was a hugely positive, fast-paced opening.
Bulls (18) 31 / 19 (16) Crusaders (Final Score)
The Vodacom Bulls and Crusaders did battle in Super Rugby at
Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT, Sunday 06:10 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder wasted no time in bringing back All Black captain Richie McCaw for his team’s Super Rugby Round 7 encounter with the Vodacom Bulls.
The 7-time champion Crusaders start their South African tour against the 3-time champion Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.
McCaw, who was rested last week as the Crusaders demolished the Cheetahs 57 / 14, replaces Matt Todd at openside flank – with the latter dropping down to the replacement bench.
In all Blackadder made 5 changes to his starting line-up for the trip to Loftus Versfeld.
Blackadder has made 2 rotations in the front row, with prop Joe Moody and hooker Ben Funnell coming in for All Black Wyatt Crockett and Codie Taylor respectively. Crockett and Taylor both drop to the bench.
Dan Carter, who last week started at inside centre, returns to his more customary role in the No 10 jersey.
Tom Taylor moves out one position to No 12 and Colin Slade will play off the bench.
Jonathan Kaplan
Prominent ex-Test referee Jonathan Kaplan has joined the chorus calling for scrutiny of the Crusaders scrumming action after their win over the Toyota Cheetahs last weekend.
The Crusaders scrum has dominated in their contests against both the Emirates Lions and Cheetahs in their 2 Vodacom Super Rugby games over the past fortnight, and in both cases it seems as if the scrum – and All Black prop Wyatt Crockett in particular – have gotten away with murder.
Crockett’s supposed dominance in the scrum has seen both Julian Redelinghuys and Coenie Oosthuizen, both Springbok props, being sin-binned during the game and a plethora of penalties given against their teams by referees who believe the tighthead can’t handle the pressure when the loosehead packs down.
But on a number of occasions – and ironically picked up by both former All Blacks Jeff Wilson and Justin Marshall – the scrum has never packed down straight.
The Emirates Lions won their 2nd tour match as the Vodacom Bulls and Cell C Sharks had to dig deep to win at home in an interesting 6th Round of Vodacom Super Rugby.
The men from Johannesburg weathered an early storm and clinched their 3rd successive win over the Melbourne Rebels, by 20 / 16, courtesy of a late try by Lionel Mapoe on Friday in Melbourne. With this victory, the Emirates Lions emulated their feats in 2007 and 2011, when they also won 2 tour matches.
On Saturday, the Toyota Cheetahs started well and were in front at the break against the Crusaders in Christchurch, but the home team took proper advantage of 2 second-half Yellow Cards against the visitors from Bloemfontein to win comfortably by 57 / 14.
2 Matches were played in South Africa on Saturday afternoon, both in less-than-perfect conditions.
First up, the Vodacom Bulls had to rely on a late penalty goal by Handré Pollard to pip the Force by 25 / 24 in Pretoria before the Cell C Sharks, playing for more than 50 minutes with 13 men against 14, following 3 Red Cards, had to dig deep to beat the Chiefs by 12 / 11 in Durban.
The DHL Stormers had a BYE.
Crusaders (10) 57 / 14 (14) Cheetahs (Final Score)
The Crusaders and Toyota Cheetahs did battle in Super Rugby at
AMI Stadium, Christchurch at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Todd Blackadder has named his side to take on the Cheetahs this Saturday, making 4 changes to the starting line-up that beat the Lions last weekend.
In the forwards, hookers Codie Taylor and Ben Funnell will rotate so that Taylor starts at No 2.
Matt Todd, named captain for the season, returns to the team to play at No 7 this week – replacing All Black captain Richie McCaw.
However, Kieran Read retains the captaincy for this match.
In the backline, Israel Dagg returns from injury to take the fullback spot, while Kieron Fonotia moves onto the wing following Johnny McNicholl’s knee (posterior cruciate ligament) injury last week.
Heinrich Brüssow
Toyota Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske has named his team to tackle the Crusaders in their Super Rugby clash in Christchurch on Saturday (kick-off 08:35 SA Time).
Heinrich Brussow will start at flank after impressing off the bench against the Sharks last weekend,.
Brussow is 1 of 4 newcomers to the starting team named on Wendesday.
The others are scrumhalf Tian Meyer, flyhalf Joe Pietersen and wing Clayton Blommetjies.
Crusaders (13) 34 / 6 (3) Lions (Final Score)
The Crusaders and Emirates Lions did battle in Super Rugby at
AMI Stadium, Christchurch at 05:30 SA Time (16:30 NZ Time, 03:30 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Lions head coach Johann Ackermann has announced his team to take on the Crusaders in Christchurch this weekend.
After an injury free victory over the Blues last week, Ackermann has been able to name the same starting team this week, with just a couple of changes on the bench.
Robbie Fruean
Robbie Fruean’s Super Rugby campaign is almost certainly over folliwing surgery on Monday to have a steel plate inserted in his fractured arm after injuring it in his side’s loss to the Chiefs last weekend.
The timeframe for recovery from this type of injury is usually around 4 – 5 months, which would mean an early July return in a best-case scenario.
Crusaders Head Coach Todd Blackadder said the entire team was feeling for Robbie and sending him their best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Tom Taylor
Canterbury and Crusaders back, Tom Taylor, has announced he will move to France to play for the Bayonne Club at the end of this year.
Taylor says it’s been a tough decision to leave, but it is a great opportunity for him and he is looking forward to the next chapter of his career.
“I have absolutely loved my time here at Canterbury and the Crusaders, especially being a Christchurch boy.
Chiefs (22) 40 / 16 (9) Crusaders (Final Score)
The Chiefs and Crusaders did battle in Super Rugby at
Waikato Stadium, Hamilton at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Owen Franks
The SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Robert Stelzner SC has accepted a guilty plea from Owen Franks of the Crusaders for contravening Law 10.4 (a) Punching or striking, after he was cited following a Super Rugby match at the weekend.
Franks has been suspended from all forms of the game for 2 weeks up to and including 8 March 2015.
The incident occurred in the 10th minute of the match between the Highlanders and Crusaders played at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on 21 February 2015.
SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Robert Stelzner SC assessed the case.
Willi Heinz
Gloucester have added experience and quality to their scrumhalf ranks next season with the capture of Crusaders’ Willi Heinz.
The 28-year-old will join the current Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw and the hugely promising Callum Braley as scrumhalf options for the Cherry and Whites from 2015 – 2016.
Heinz has captained Canterbury in the NPC, represented the Crusaders more than 50 times in Super Rugby, and gained huge popularity with the Canterbury supporters.
Owen Franks
Kane Hames
Crusaders prop Owen Franks and his Highlanders counterpart Kane Hames were both cited for foul play after their teams’ clash in Dunedin on Saturday.
Both players are alleged to have contravened Law 10.4 (a) Punching or striking.
Owens’ incident occurred in the 10th minute of the match while Hames’ incident took place in the 74th minute.
Upon further review of the match footage, the citing commissioner deemed in his opinion the incidents had met the Red Card threshold for foul play.
Grant Jarrold
Grant Jarrold has been elected the new Chairman of the Crusaders.
Jarrold said he was looking forward to stepping up to the role of Crusaders Chairman and continuing to contribute to the organisation.
“I am passionate about this team and have enjoyed being involved as a Board member since 2012.
“This is a Board, a team and an organisation full of quality, committed people, so it is an honour to assume the role of Chairman for the Crusaders,” Jarrold said.
Jarrold continued: “There are plenty of new opportunities for the Crusaders this season and in the future.
Highlanders (7) 20 / 26 (20) Crusaders (Final Score)
The Highlanders and Crusaders did battle in Super Rugby at
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Richie McCaw
All Black skipper Richie McCaw on Thursday dropped the strongest hint yet he will retire after this year’s World Cup in England and bring his glittering career to an end.
The 34-year-old captain of New Zealand, the reigning World Cup champions, admitted he was considering hanging up his boots, but was not yet ready to make a definitive announcement, preferring to focus on the ongoing Super Rugby season with the Crusaders.
“Honestly, I haven’t made any final decision, but probably the likelihood is I’m not going to be playing next year,” McCaw said at a Crusaders training session, in comments published on New Zealand Rugby’s official website.
Israel Dagg
Israel Dagg will make his return to Super Rugby when the Crusaders take on the Highlanders this Saturday.
He is 1 of 5 changes to the starting line-up this week.
Crusaders head coach Todd Blackadder has named Wyatt Crockett to start in the No 1 jersey this week, with Joe Moody and Nepo Laulala providing prop cover from the bench.
Scott Barrett will start at lock for the first time in Super Rugby, pairing up with Luke Romano and with Dominic Bird on the bench.
Colin Slade shifts from fullback to flyhalf, with Daniel Carter recovering from a knock to the leg in last week’s match, and Dagg steps in at No 15.
Israel Dagg
Dan Carter
Crusaders pivot Dan Carter is set to miss the Christchurch-based team’s clash against the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday.
Carter hurt his leg in his side’s 20 / 10 loss to the Melbourne Rebels last weekend and although Crusaders assistant coach Aaron Mauger believes the injury isn’t serious, he said it’s unlikely that the All Blacks flyhalf would be considered to play this weekend.
That means that Colin Slade is expected to start in the No 10 jeresey.