Richie Mo'unga breaks away up field. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Richie Mo'unga breaks away up field. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Crusaders 45 Bulls 13
Richie Mo'unga back, and the Crusaders return to clinical ways. Just. Like. Clockwork.
It's no major slight on Mitch Hunt to say the Crusaders are a completely different team with Mo'unga at the helm.
Few players in world rugby could replace Mo'unga in this form.
Ofthe four matches the red and blacks have dropped in the past two-and-a-half-years, Mo'unga featured in one. That's how influential he has become to the defending champions.
Last week, during the scrappy draw with the Sharks, the Crusaders lacked direction and struggled to spark their attack, in part due to the shambolic state of the scrums in Christchurch.
This week on the high veldt in Pretoria their forward pack laid the platform - Jordan Taufua, Kieran Read and Scott Barrett all featuring prominently - which allowed those wider out to run the big Bulls ragged.
Visiting teams at altitude can opt for the conservative route to retain energy for the final quarter. The Crusaders went the opposite way and by making a staggering 670 metres, more than double that of the Bulls, it paid off in spades.
They scored four first half tries, Mo'unga grabbing two, to lead by 20 points at the break and effectively put the contest to bed.
Seven tries to one sums up the final shellacking.
This was the exact response Scott Robertson and, well, the rest of Super Rugby expects.
Mo'unga's second try was a thing of beauty; a dummy and step to beat stagnant lock RG Snyman, a pop off the left foot to leave opposite Handre Pollard for dead and he then carried fullback Warrick Gelant over the line in a superb 40m effort.
When he wasn't scoring tries, Mo'unga controlled territory and picked out his wingers with pin-point cross-field kicks. At one point in the second half he went from a kick to the left wing to, on the next play, the right. In all he scored 20 points, and had it on a string throughout.
Mitchell Dunshea, starting in the absence of skipper Sam Whitelock, also claimed a corker for his first Super Rugby try, striding down the left edge after the set up from George Bridge and Jack Goodhue.
Sevu Reece again impressed by running for over 100m and collecting a hat trick but, in many ways, the Fijian prospect was outshone by back three partners, Bridge and David Havili.
Taking the place of the injured Will Jordan, Havili was excellent in everything he did. He and Bridge handled the predictable high ball bombardment with aplomb, and Havili also had some nice touches from the boot.
As they were last week the Crusaders were again on the wrong side of the penalty count (13-4) – an area that threatens to become an issue. Their lineout also stuttered at times, losing three on their own throw. In the end, though, neither area mattered in this match.
The Bulls competed ferociously at the breakdown, where Springboks No 8 Duane Vermeulen made his presence felt at times, but they were never in the same league when it came to tempo and counter attack. Missing 29 tackles also didn't help.
Locals had to wait almost an hour for their side's only try, to second-five Burger Odendaal, and even that was not inspiring.
The only blight for the Crusaders came as All Blacks prop Joe Moody limped off with a nasty gash on his knee after 50 minutes. With Owen Franks still out, they will sweat on Moody's fitness ahead of their second South African leg against the Stormers in Cape Town next week.
With or without Moody they will take some stopping in this sort of mood.
As for the Bulls, South African conference leaders, given they were thumped at home 56-20 by the Chiefs in their only other meeting with a New Zealand team, this result does not bode well for the remainder of their season.
