Richard Loe: Man of the match: it'd have to be that Deans bloke

The last time I saw fog that bad, I was playing in a match in Putaruru in the 1980s and tried to start a scrap so the match would be called off and we could all go home. It didn't work.

Last night, at Jade Stadium, it was a bit like standing in the middle of the farm and not being able to see the sheep.

There's a lot of people who read this column and a lot of them were nudging me after the game and saying: "What are you going to say about that, sunshine?"

Fair question - we were in the Hadlee stand at the northern end of the ground and even though the Crusaders had something like an 80 per cent territorial advantage, we only occasionally got to see the Hurricanes' back three.

It was a shame that the weather interfered in the way that it did but I can understand the authorities deciding not to postpone it until today.

There are all sorts of problems that come with postponed matches but, I have to say, if they'd played that match at rugby's traditional time it would have been played out in a beautiful day. At 3pm, it was calm and about 19 degrees.

But while the fans and those watching on TV wouldn't have seen much, I don't think it was that bad for the players. I reckon they could see about three-quarters of the field at ground level and that's playable. I know there were a lot of Cantabrians going out of Jade last night with their heads held high - because their side had played well and won well. It was real finals rugby, tight and hard.

In the end, the right side won - because the Crusaders simply played the conditions better and held that huge territorial advantage throughout the game.

They were accurate and disciplined and, between two strong defensive sides, they were the strongest. Chris Jack played a good hand in the lineouts and, as far as I could see, it was noticeable that the Crusaders substitutes helped the cause greatly when they came on. In contrast, I did not think the Hurricanes subs offered anything.

That's down to Robbie Deans who has to take a huge amount of credit for the way he has prepared and maintained this side and, in spite of the fog, you could see them reading the game better than the Canes and making the right decisions. That's how you win finals rugby.

The Crusaders' kicking game was also stronger and that try by Casey Laulala came from a move where the Crusaders were accurate and ran hard and at pace.

For once, the Hurricanes fell off a couple of tackles and, again, in a final defence is key. I noticed that the Crusaders defence really cracked down on Tana Umaga, Ma'a Nonu and Jerry Collins whenever they tried to take the ball up.

It's hard to single out any Crusaders player as man of the match so I'd probably give it to the guy that no one saw all match - and not just because of the fog.

That Deans bloke.