Rugby: Crusaders labour to win over Lions

Jordan Taufua of the Crusaders is tackled during the round five Super Rugby match between the Crusaders and the Lions at AMI Stadium. Photo / Getty Images.

Crusaders 34
Lions 6

The Crusaders managed to do what the Blues couldn't and actually beat the Lions, but they didn't set the world on fire in the process.

It wasn't an ugly win as such - but about 80 per cent of their work was forgettable. For 60 minutes the Crusaders were disjointed, inaccurate and guilty of looking like the Blues in disguise.

The big red machine still wasn't firing properly. Not until late in the piece anyway. It was all cough, cough, splutter, splutter until then. The scoreline didn't reflect the laboured nature of much of the Crusaders' work.

It took them the better part of 60 minutes to find any kind of rhythm and even then it wasn't much.

There weren't many boxes for the Crusaders to tick. In truth, it was their work in one specific area that won them the contest.

The scrummaging was impressive. Properly impressive that is with the Crusaders destroying the Lions' set-piece and reducing it to rubble.

The Lions suffered the indignity of not only conceding a penalty try because of their failing scrum - but also having a man yellow carded for persistent collapsing.

The opening try also came from a scrum and there's no doubt the Crusaders have that part of their game exactly where they want it. That's not something they can say about the rest of their game.

Their basic pass and catch was poor. Exceptionally poor at times and it is the backs that continue to be the biggest problem for the Crusaders. It wasn't their running lines today that let them down - although they were a contributing factor. It was their basic handling.

Laboured passing has become their thing and the unforced errors were simply too many.
But, and this has been the Crusaders' way for the last few seasons now, there were signs of things coming together. They have all their players back now.

Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock made their respective first appearances of the season and played exactly as expected. They turned in solid, good performances that reflected both their lack of game time and world class talents.

They will both be all the better for having 80 minutes under their belts and watch them work through the gears in the coming weeks. The same was true of Daniel Carter who looked more composed and confident than he did in his only other outing this season.

Playing at second-five suited him. He was able to unburden himself from much of the decision making and focus more on running into space and contact. It wasn't an electric performance but there was more than enough in it to be confident he's far from a busted flush.

Best of all, he through himself about and nothing was broken. Like Whitelock and Read, there will, almost certainly, be a steady rise in Carter's contribution over the next few weeks and with it, the Crusaders should start to come together and play the sort of rugby that enabled them to make the final last year.

No doubt coach Todd Blackadder wouldn't want it to be like this. He doesn't want to see his side take an age to find their form and polish but perhaps that's the consequence of having a side chock full of senior All Blacks who all drift back into the competition at different times and in various states of readiness.

And as a final reason to be content with his lot - Blackadder should be thankful that his side can play nowhere near their potential and still collect five points in the process.
Look at the Blues - they played nowhere near their potential against the Lions and lost.

Crusaders 34 (A. Ellis, penalty, K. Fonotia, K. Read tries; D. Carter 4 cons, 2 pens)
Lions 6 (E. Jantjies 2 pens)