OPINION:
The fairy-tale end to an unrivalled era – or the anointing of the new benchmark. The cut-throat, fine-margin nature of professional sport dictates only one of those themes will emerge from the engrossing Super Rugby final.
Let’s start with the Crusaders. Scott Robertson’s bid to stamp a final break-dancing windmill on Super Rugby’s greatest coaching tenure reaches a fitting climax with a seventh straight title within reach. That quest gained ferocious traction as the Crusaders dismantled the Blues in last week’s dominant semifinal.
Like the morning alarm, Robertson’s clockwork Crusaders strike peak performance for this time of year. Their finals pedigree was reinforced at this juncture last year, when they rolled up to Eden Park and effortlessly suffocated a Blues team riding the wave of 15 straight wins.
No matter the result in Hamilton, Robertson’s legacy is cemented but so, too, is the end of a dynasty nigh.
Emotions loom large with the inspirational Robertson and assistant Scott Hansen departing for the All Blacks in November. And with Richie Mo’unga, among the most influential players in Super Rugby history, Sam Whitelock and Leicester Fainga’anuku leaving, the Crusaders will surely struggle to replicate the feats of this standard-bearing era.
Capturing another title away from home, after their hefty injury toll that sidelined eight All Blacks alone last week, would rank alongside Robertson’s drought-breaking first with the Crusaders at Ellis Park in 2017.
That’s no given, though. The Crusaders and finals combine like roast and mash on a winter’s day but this Chiefs side could yet prove a different gravy.
They are one team that do not fear the Crusaders. The Chiefs have, after all, knocked over the Crusaders twice this year. No team in Super Rugby history boasts a better record against the Crusaders, either.
From their opening round upset in Christchurch, the Chiefs set out their stall as the team to beat this season. Anyone underestimating Clayton McMillan’s motivational abilities, or the Waikato Stadium cauldron, needs a cowbell ringing in their ears.
Such was the demand for tickets the Chiefs website crashed at the pre-sale stage this week.
While the Crusaders’ monopoly passed go in seemingly monotonous fashion in each of the last six years, the Chiefs rise under McMillan has gradually emerged from under-the-radar to a repeated stiff jab to the face.
Three years ago McMillan arrived at the Chiefs with the franchise at a low ebb following a record nine successive losses. Initially appointed as interim head coach, McMillan soon became irreplaceable.
With an impressive blend of hard-nosed directness, genuine care and connection to the region’s embedded Māori roots, McMillan restored Chiefs mana to inspire a restoration curve that now culminates in the chance to claim their first title in a decade.
Back then, during the Dave Rennie-Wayne Smith-Tom Coventry era, the Chiefs relished challenging the Crusaders, too. Brodie Retallick started that last success while All Blacks captain Sam Cane emerged off the bench in the tense 2013 final victory over Jake White’s Brumbies.
Ten years on, Retallick and Cane are again central figures.
With Brad Weber, Retallick, Pita Gus Sowakula and Alex Nankivell playing their final matches for the Chiefs, the farewell factor appears a dead heat.
Weber and Shaun Stevenson have points to prove after missing All Blacks selection but while those national ambitions bubble internally, the greater drive is dethroning the entrenched ruling class.
“It’s a bit poetic that we get to have a crack at the champs,” Weber said. “If we want to be the best, we’ve got to beat the best, so no better team to test ourselves against and really prove that we deserve to be champs.”
The Chiefs have more to gain than the Crusaders.
With four coaches – three head honchos – progressing to the All Blacks next year the Super Rugby landscape could be significantly reshaped and the Chiefs, with their stability in that department, are best placed to pounce.
Seizing the mantle now, though, would enhance the satisfaction and signal a changing of the guard is already upon us.
Momentum sits firmly in the Crusaders’ favour after their crushing semifinal defeat of the Blues and the Chiefs’ concerning struggles to overcome the Reds and Brumbies at home in the last two weeks.
But as the Blues discovered last year in a high-stakes one-off finale, form counts for little.
The Chiefs are, crucially, not the Blues. McMillan will ensure the Chiefs forward pack – featuring seven All Blacks and Samipeni Finau on the bench – won’t be bullied in the collisions. Retallick, Cane and Samisoni Taukei’aho won’t be pushed around.
With Whitelock returning from his Achilles issue the Crusaders are, however, sure to target the set piece battle and seek to impose their maul strength.
Tactically, expect few surprises elsewhere. The Crusaders will attempt to smother and rattle Damian McKenzie with their relentless rush defence to underline Stevenson’s complementary importance.
Mo’unga will use his experience and composure to control the tactical kicking exchanges. The Chiefs will back their resolute defence, led by Cane and Luke Jacobson, that epitomises their committed attitude to withstand the Crusaders.
All year the Chiefs have set the bar. They arrive at this defining match at full-strength, after one regular season blemish. Their final hurdle is to avoid suffering the same fate as the six previous would-be contenders to the crown.
Otherwise, the floor is Robertson’s for one final dance.
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The Crusaders saw off the Chiefs in a physical encounter in Christchurch.