Wynne Gray: How the top two inches wins titles

Crusaders player Andy Ellis in action during round one of the Investec Super Rugby match against the Blues. Photo / Dean Purcell.

Class under fire. It is a precious commodity which the Reds and Crusaders showed as the Super 15 re-entered our sporting landscape.

When sports coaches are quizzed about what separates the strong from mediocre teams, they invariably tap the top of their bonce and mention phrases about the top two inches.

Little separates high-performance sides in their physical preparation, they are drilled to withstand the mixed challenges of speed, endurance and power which rugby demands.

But when the general requests disperse and teams are asked to deliver, those who operate most calmly in blast furnace heat show their value.

Enter the Crusaders and Reds. Last year's finalists were both playing away from home without some of their main men such as Richie McCaw, Daniel Carter and Quade Cooper who are still in the casualty ward.

So what did they do? They both operated their version of Muhammad Ali's Rope a Dope tactics, absorbing the fitful heat applied by the Blues and Waratahs, soaking up the tough times and striking when necessary.

The Crusaders got to the lead and absorbed the Blues' late onslaught to take the honours in the start to the series while the Reds used the last play of their clash with the Waratahs to claim a long-range winning try.

Temperament is one of those invaluable attributes coaches search for in their players. Tiger had it, Borg delivered it, Gretsky was all-time, Senna too, while the Yankees, Celtics, the Soviet ice-hockey side, Australian cricket side and the All Blacks have all carved out their extraordinary sporting niches.

In Super 15, the Crusaders have earned that reputation with seven titles and three runners-up medals while the Reds got the gong last season. They have felt the raging heat of competition and come out victorious. They have learned how to win more than their share of close contests and in round one this year they repeated that pattern.

It takes time. Remember the All Blacks of the late-90s and early 2000s who stumbled in the close contests against the Wallabies. It took them years before they regularly reversed those results.

The Blues have not regained those instincts since they claimed the 2003 Super rugby title. They have had their strong patches but not enough consistency. There is a burbling undercurrent of optimism that 2012 will be different but opening night at Eden Park showed how tough that can be.

In many areas, this match was superior to others which developed in New Zealand, Australia or South Africa. There were brittle areas associated with opening nights but the general calibre of the contest was strong.

Individuals such as Kieran Read and Jerome Kaino - two high-quality All Blacks who were pitted against each other because of Blues coach Pat Lam's decision to switch Kaino to the base of his scrum - were involved in many of the big plays, leading the defensive lines or burying themselves in the rucks and organisation. There were many others such as Andy Ellis, Wyatt Crockett, Rudi Wulf, the Braids and Keven Mealamu.

They were on show for the Reds too. Think Michael Harris, Scott Higginbotham, Will Genia and James Horwill.

It's some way off and fortunes may yet alter dramatically, but successive weekends in late April and May loom as tasty shows with the Reds across this side of the ditch for matches at Eden Park and Christchurch.