The Crusaders punished a frantic and ill-disciplined Lions side to win 25-17 on Saturday and claim their eighth Super Rugby title. JON CARDINELLI at Ellis Park reports.
The Crusaders’ effort on what was a historic day for Super Rugby was nothing short of magnificent. The odds were always against Scott Robertson’s charges travelling from Christchurch to beat the top-ranked side in the tournament on their home ground. The odds were always against the Crusaders silencing a crowd of 61,500 and denying coach Johan Ackermann a fairytale finish to an outstanding Lions tenure.
On the day, though, the odds counted for nothing. The Crusaders stormed to an eighth Super Rugby title and became the first side in history to travel across the Indian Ocean for a decider and lift the trophy.
The Lions were never in control of the contest. After all the hype in the week, and after all the talk of channelling the emotion around Ackermann’s departure into a positive performance, they failed to deliver when the big occasion finally arrived.
The crowd itself appeared to experience the full range of emotions across the 80 minutes. There was surprise when Seta Tamanivalu scored in the eighth minute and the visitors took a 7-0 lead. There was disbelief and, for what seemed like an age, silence when Jack Goodhue added a second try.
The Crusaders defence got the better of the Lions attack. Individuals like Malcolm Marx, Jaco Kriel and Ruan Ackermann all succeeded in breaching the gainline to give the Lions go-forward ball. The Crusaders, however, picked their moments to slow the ball down at the breakdown. Their decision-making on the line was excellent and ultimately they prevented the Lions from firing as a unit.
The Lions fought hard to remain in the contest. They held the Crusaders up on the line several times, and denied Israel Dagg a try through a desperate tackle by Harold Vorster.
But one always got the sense that the Lions were fighting to remain in the race rather than win it. The Crusaders always looked to be in control.
Much will be made about the red-card incident and its impact on the game. Flank Kwagga Smith’s reckless challenge on Crusaders fullback David Havili ultimately forced the Lions to compete against a side stacked with All Blacks for 42 minutes.
Smith chased the high kick and looked well placed to get up in the air and compete for it. Havili had read the play well and leaped forward while completing the catch.
The Lions flanker never got up to compete for the ball, though, and cannoned into Havili. The Crusaders fullback landed heavily.
It came as no surprise when referee Jaco Peyper reached into his pocket for a card. The crowd erupted in anger when the colour of that card turned out to be red, and booed Peyper when the teams and officials headed down the tunnel at half-time.
That incident effectively brought an end to the game as a contest. To be fair, the Lions were battling to pressure the Crusaders when they had 15 men on the field. The result may well have been the same if Smith had received a yellow instead of a red.
The visitors wasted no time in making their advantage count. Four minutes into the second stanza, Kieran Read crossed the tryline and Richie Mo’unga added the extras. Trailing by 22 points, there looked to be no way back for the 14-man Lions side.
The hosts went down fighting, though. Marx scored in the 64th minute to give the most optimistic Lions supporters at the ground some hope. Corné Fourie powered through the Crusaders defence in the 73rd minute to give the Lions contingent one final reason to cheer.
In the end, however, the better team prevailed.
The Lions had a golden opportunity to strike from a lineout deep in Crusaders territory in the 76th minute. All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock beat the intended recipient to the ball, and the Crusaders eventually managed to exit.
The crowd’s cries of anguish said it all. The lost lineout was but one anti-climax on an evening of anti-climaxes for the home side at Ellis Park.
Lions – Tries: Malcolm Marx, Corné Fourie. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (2). Penalty: Jantjies.
Crusaders – Tries: Seta Tamanivalu, Jack Goodhue, Kieran Read. Conversions: Richie Mo’unga (2). Penalties: Mo’unga (2).
Lions – 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Kwagga Smith, 6 Jaco Kriel (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Subs: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Corné Fourie, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Cyle Brink, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 23 Sylvian Mahuza.
Crusaders – 15 David Havili, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Seta Tamanivalu, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Matt Todd, 6 Jordan Taufua, 5 Sam Whitelock (c), 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody.
Subs: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Michael Alaalatoa, 19 Luke Romano, 19 Pete Samu, 20 Mitchell Drummond, 21 Mitchell Hunt, 23 George Bridge.
Photo: Gallo Images
