Richard Loe: Pass had disaster written all over it

It all came down to that pass. Rudi Wulf had done well to field the ball in defence as the Crusaders pressed - but the pass that he threw had disaster written all over it.

I was sitting in line with the pass and the Blues players he chucked it to had stopped. Ryan Crotty saw it coming, the flight was high enough so he could time his run and that was the ball game.

Still and all, I don't think the Crusaders are dominant yet. Too many mistakes and they don't quite impress me as winners yet. In fact, you can say that about all the main New Zealand franchises so far.

The Chiefs were top of the ladder and they looked magnificent for 20 minutes on Friday night. But they lost their way and let the Reds back into the match. They played a fine game at the breakdown and in defence after that and frustrated the Chiefs.

If Stephen Donald had nailed just a couple of kicks, they would have been ahead by 21-0 or 22-0 and I don't think the Reds would have recovered from that. Again, the Chiefs aren't quite there but, like the Crusaders, they're on the way.

The Blues also didn't play badly and they were in that game for a long time. They may not totally have looked like they were going to win it but that match was finely balanced and only Wulf's pass and Crotty's intercept tipped it.

The Canterbury locals were very confident but the guy I know who put $20 on the Crusaders to win by 20 points or more did his dough. The Blues did a lot well but, like when they played the Hurricanes, an intercept killed them off.

It's early days for them too and I think the Blues may be a better side than many give them credit for - but they will need to start putting it all together soon or their season will have been intercepted.

The Crusaders scrum worked better last night - but I think a lot of that was down to the fact that referee controlled the scrums better than the last time the Crusaders played.

They still didn't totally convince at the breakdown - and maybe Richie McCaw was a little rusty and still adapting to the new rules - but they did show some real enterprise behind the scrum. I'd go so far as to say they were quite brilliant at times - but not at others.

Dan Carter was just excellent - his break to create George Whitelock's try was vintage Carter - although I must say Stephen Brett played well too. He kicked well from hand and at goal and kept the Blues in it.

It was interesting to hear the ground announcer always chime in with the name of the Canterbury player when one scored but, when Brett scored, there was silence.

The other notable was Canterbury centre Robbie Fruean. He's a powerful unit and will be a real handful when he grows up.