The Crusaders at training earlier this week. Photo / Photosport
The Crusaders at training earlier this week. Photo / Photosport
COMMENT:
Hey everyone, there's a Super Rugby final on Saturday!
Not that I'd blame you if you didn't know or care – why would you? To recap, the Crusaders are playing the Jaguares at the Christchurch-based franchise's pokey little stadium on Saturday night. The kick-off is 7.35pm. The Jaguares arefrom Argentina and it's their first time in a grand final. Before this season they'd never been in a playoff game before.
Yeah, it's the Crusaders again. Is that why you're not that interested in this one? They've won two in a row and are hot favourites for another. They've already won nine.
Or is it the fact the All Blacks squad announcement has sucked all the attention away from the build-up in Christchurch, one of the most low-key in the competition's history, leaving it as flat as a half-pumped ball left in the long grass for a week? Think the Hurricanes should be in the final instead? Or that last weekend's Crusaders v Hurricanes semifinal, one of the best ever, should have been the competition showpiece?
Saving it all up for the World Cup? Or is the general malaise instead due to the feeling that those running Super Rugby secretly wish this final could be anywhere but at the Crusaders' home ground which has been scientifically proven to be the coldest and most inhospitable place in the Southern Hemisphere and featuring, for that matter, anyone but the Crusaders?
One would imagine the hype to be significantly greater if the Waratahs, Reds or Brumbies were hosting this final. Say what you like about Australian rugby, but they know how to put a big game on and the Reds, in particular, have a home stadium which consolidates and grows an atmosphere rather than placing it in cold storage.
The Crusaders are aiming for a Super Rugby three-peat when they face the Jaguares in the final at Rugby Park in Christchurch on Saturday. Photo / Photosport
That's not the Crusaders' fault, though, and their head coach Scott Robertson has made it plain that he believes his side and the larger franchise area deserves a stadium at least fit for purpose. It's not hard to agree.
And, I'm just taking a guess here, but if the final were in Sydney then the Sydney-based Sanzaar might be more inclined to make a big deal about it because it is a big deal.
The Crusaders are the best team in the competition by far, but that has often been the case and they haven't got across the line. They have got to this point despite the horrific massacres in Christchurch in March – the first at the Al Noor Mosque a couple of kilometres from their Rugby Park headquarters and the second at the Linwood Islamic Centre across the other side of town. The attacks killed 51 people.
Immediately after the attacks their game against the Highlanders in Dunedin was called off and their entire identity was put into the spotlight, and that's something that's still up in the air, although I'd suggest that following the return of the horses (without the swords and knights imagery) over the last fortnight, and indication that the emblem won't change next year, that it may not alter too much.
Either way, the players and coaching staff felt that scrutiny and it affected them more deeply than they will publicly let on. The Crusaders have always stood for their community – more than that, they've prided themselves on being inspirations during some very tough times in the south - and to be considered by some to be part of the problem would not have been easy to accept, and that goes for the investigation into the alleged misconduct in Cape Town, too.
Jaguares winger Ramiro Moyano scoresagainst the Waratahs. Photo / Photosport
So, good luck to them. And good luck to the Jaguares, a side who deserve their success this season. They're a team who will test the Crusaders' pack thoroughly and one whose supporters will add a touch of colour and atmosphere to an event which deserves it.
There were tears shed on the Buenos Aires pitch when they beat the Brumbies last weekend and lord knows the Christchurch stadium could do with some emotion on Saturday night. For those reasons alone it's worth attending or tuning in for. Remember, it kicks off at 7.35pm.
