Rugby: Crusaders go top with win

Zac Guildford of the Crusaders. Photo / Getty Images

There is nothing like a full noise, 80-minute crunch to make it seem that all is right with the rugby world.

Timaru, cold enough to freeze hell, was thawed by a red-hot contest that will have left both teams optimistic about their chances of success in the playoffs.

There was ebb and flow to this, big hits, accuracy and composure.

It was a quality game of football that hung in the balance late into the piece.

That was until Zac Guildford collected Dan Carter's perfectly weighted chip to score in the corner on 75 minutes and all but secure the Crusaders the win and the Conference top spot.

It was a fitting end - but for the fact the Crusaders loomed as winners for the duration - partly because they are the Crusaders and winning seems to be in their DNA. But they also carried a more threatening edge.

And also for the fact that Carter, as always, was faultless and Guildford popped up where he wasn't expected and made some telling intrusions.

Big games need big players to take control and that's what those two did. Yet they would both want to make sure they weren't sold as the only heroes as the two packs produced a stunning contest.

In what was a hearty battle, the Crusaders just about had control of the scrum. The contest at the lineout was just as fierce where Ali Williams gave the best indication yet he's ready for an All Black recall. He would have been delighted to have seen Sam Whitelock back from injury and no doubt had some choice words throughout the game for his young adversary.

It was thunderous stuff from both packs and the Blues, while they came for a result, can at least take something from their performance. They were tight and aggressive and back in the sort of form they showed earlier in the campaign before the wheels started coming off.

If they can pick themselves up mentally from the carnage of four defeats on the trot, they can still feature in this competition.

Tactically, the Blues were a better mix than they have been. Their preference was still to run wide but they didn't play so much rugby in their own territory.

The only place they really came unstuck was in the collision - suffering a damaging period just before and after the break. They were determined to counter-attack and play with width and tempo in that period but they couldn't always escape a red wave of defence and ball retention was not all it should have been.

Matt Todd was all over anything loose on the deck, providing his team with golden turnover ball.

The Blues played musical jerseys in the backline. Jared Payne wore 15 but played at centre and Luke McAlister wore 12 but played at fullback. It was an intriguing switch with McAlister fairly handy when he came into the line.

There are some who have known McAlister since his teens and insist that fullback is where he should play and he showed enough on attack to think it wouldn't be a bad idea to see him there again.

Probably the Blues had some cunning view on what they thought McAlister would bring from fullback, but just as important to putting him there was their desire to use Payne at centre.

All season he's been consistent and accurate - the sort of player the Blues have craved for years. His steady influence was again invaluable last night, creating the first try when he held on to the ball long enough to be able to throw a pass around the back of a defender to Rene Ranger.

Never short of ideas, Ranger handed off the first tackler, dinked a neat grubber past the next and pounced on the loose ball for the try.

It was his last meaningful act before he ripped his hamstring which, given the freezing temperature, was always a possibility.

He trooped off a few minutes after Sonny Bill Williams who appeared to damage his ribs. He tried to play on for a few minutes, using his injury almost as justification for an old fashioned rugby league style shoulder charge on McAlister.

It says everything about the game that it didn't suffer as a result of losing two men who carry such X-Factor.

Crusaders 23 (Z. Guildford 2, M. Todd tries; D. Carter con, 2 pens) Blues 16 (R. Ranger, C. Faumuina tries; L. McAlister 2 pens). HT: 13-11.

Super Rugby

Crusaders 23
Blues 16