Rugby: Crusaders embrace history on way to title

The Crusaders made history by holding on to win the Super Rugby title yesterday. Photo / Photosport

You can't teach team spirit, but you can learn all about history, and that helped foster the togetherness which enabled the Crusaders to hold out the Lions in the last, breathless quarter of the Super Rugby final at Ellis Park.

The book work, interspersed with videos, of the Crusaders' title runs - now eight in total thanks to their efforts creating history yesterday in Johannesburg - began at the start of the season at the franchise's Rugby Park headquarters.

The lessons continued throughout the year, including last week in South Africa as Scott Robertson's men put their time recovering from their flight across the Indian Ocean to good use.

That history of being the most successful franchise in the competition's history has been a burden at times, but Robertson's energy and enthusiasm in his first year at this level made it a challenge instead.

All the while, they learned and adapted. Robertson revealed after his team's 25-17 victory and his traditional breakdancing routine which has taken social media by storm, that the Crusaders changed their defensive lineout after the defeat by the British and Irish Lions in June and as a result made several steals in the playoffs, including vital interventions against the Lions.

The ability to learn, adapt, draw inspiration from the past and be one of the most physically fit teams in the competition added up to a formula which meant they lost only one match in the round-robin.

It also meant they were mentally and physically able to defend their hearts out in three playoff matches, most notably against the Lions when they conceded two converted tries in the final 15 minutes and were, according to their coach, "shattered".

They were creaking after letting in Malcolm Marx and Corne Fourie, thoughts no doubt turning to the home side's incredible fightback the week before against the Hurricanes, but despite their exhaustion, they didn't break.

"We tried to hold the ball but they were good even with 14 men," Robertson said in reference to flanker Kwagga Smith's red card for his dangerous tackle on David Havili two minutes before halftime, a decision by referee Jaco Peyper which he said was correct.

"Our boys were shattered with 20 to go. We needed 12 on the bench.

"We knew in the last 20 minutes, the Lions have won the majority of their games here over a number of years. When it got down to eight points and they had all the momentum and all the hype ... we were just scrambling."

Robertson, a former long-serving Crusader who played 86 matches for the franchise and has become the first former player to coach a team to Super Rugby glory (along with his assistant Leon MacDonald), has many strengths, and chief among them is his energy.

That ability to inspire and entertain is one of the main reasons his players love him, so it wasn't surprising the 42-year-old was persuaded to turn back the years with his unique breakdancing celebration.

"The 'hoo hey Razor Ray' song tends to come out at the end of these campaigns," he told New Zealand media afterwards. "I'll more happily do it when we have situations like that. The boys start singing and you start to get a tingle in the old toes and off you go. It's a great way to finish the campaign."

For Lions coach Johan Ackermann, off to coach at Gloucester, there was no such joy. But he and his players should be extremely proud to have been so competitive in a match which could have got away from them.

He appeared resigned to his team's fate in a halftime interview, but for Robertson, the man known as 'Razor' since his playing days, the victory could hardly have been sweeter.

The Crusaders, scheduled to arrive home from Johannesburg late today, got off to a brilliant start through Seta Tamanivalu and the impressive Jack Goodhue, but once Kieran Read scored after halftime, they had to defend as never before.

"Defence wins championships and that won it for us," Robertson said before dancing off into the night.