Following the Crusaders’ statement 19-42 victory over the Blues at Eden Park, here’s our five takeaways.
Top line
A derby clash between New Zealand’s most successful and proud Super Rugby clubs but ultimately this was very much one-traffic with the final scoreline flattering the hosts.
It’s been a stark change in fortunes for both teams this year compared to last with the Crusaders rising from a horrific slump in 2024 following the departure of Scott Robertson and the arrival of Rob Penney but they have enjoyed a fine start to 2025 winning all but one of their first five matches. The opposite is true for the defending champions who have won just one in six so far.
Penney’s charges looked very much the Crusaders of old running in sevens tries to the Blues’ three, dominating the gain-line, set-pieces and being incredibly ruthless.
Kyle Preston, Chay Fihaki (2), Tamaiti Williams, Tom Christie, Macca Springer and ofcourse Will Jordan all crossed for the visitors with Taha Kemara’s inaccuracies from the tee the one real blight on the team’s performance.
The Blues got off to a fast start with All Blacks flanker Dalton Papali’i rounding off a sterling try but the hosts had to wait 52 minutes for the next score when Marcel Renata crashed over with Finlay Christie grabbing the third which was nothing more than a consolation.
Crusaders revival?
Remarkably the Crusaders have now matched their win tally of last year as Penney managed just four in his first 14 games in charge of the proud Super Rugby Pacific outfit.
Last year was a remarkable fall from grace for the club that had won seven consecutive titles under former head coach Scott Robertson. Many predicted the failure to reach the knockout stages and the horrific run of results would lead to Penney’s dismissal but instead, the Crusaders’ bigwigs opted to stay the course and so far, Penney has repaid their faith.
It’s still early days in the season but the Crusaders look far sharper, and accurate and have now proved that their resurgence is not restricted to Christchurch winning for the first time on the road since Penney took charge.
There are still glaring chinks in the Crusaders’ armoury most notably being the accuracy off the tee but the signs are there that Super Rugby’s most successful team is rising from the ashes of 2024 and becoming a real force yet again.
Blues bullied upfront
The Blues’ forward pack was the driving force in their title-winning campaign last season but the squad has been ravaged with injuries.
Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Ricky Riccitelli, Sam Darry, Anton Segner and Adrian Choat are just some of the forwards unavailable to Cotter with the absence of star backline players Beauden Barrett, Zarn Sullivan and AJ Lam sorely felt too.
The Crusaders are missing key men too but ultimately it was the performances of those stepping into the voids that made all the difference, particularly up front.
Ioane Moananu was superb and thoroughly deserving of the man of the match award as he rose to the challenge of filling the Codie Taylor-sized hole in the front row while Quinten Strange impressed off the bench when replacing Scott Barrett at half-time.
The visitors had the slightest edge in the scrums but really dominated the lineouts spoiling five of the Blues’ 12 throws while failing to secure their own ball just twice.
It was not just in the set-pieces were the Crusaders’ pack came out on top with Christian Lio-Willie producing an outstanding defensive shift winning a pair of turnovers while making 13 tackles while lock Antonio Shalfoon racked up a match-high 21 tackle count.
Christie was back to playing some of his best rugby by pestering the Blues’ breakdown while Cullen Grace was excellent in the tight exchanges.
Blues title defence teetering
As impressive as the Crusaders, the Blues were woeful. The lengthy injury list simply cannot be used as an excuse for the basic handling errors, frustrating discipline and lack of clear direction or real intent on defence.
The Crusaders regularly found easy routes through and behind the blue wall particularly when they were gifted possession by the gracious hosts.
Last time out the Blues hinted at a turnaround in fortunes as they pushed the table-topping Chiefs all the way in a one-point defeat but on today’s evidence, that provided nothing but false hope for the title holders who have a lot of homework to do during their bye week.
Any hope of a relaxing week off will be emphatically be killed off in the first post-match review session as Cotter and co will ruthlessly highlight just how easily the Blues were put to the sword by the Crusaders.
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A New Zealand Super Rugby Pacific derby will also raise the topic of who are the runners and riders for the All Blacks squad and Robertson will have surely kept a close eye on proceeds.
The usual suspects in red will have done their hopes no harm with Sevu Reece enjoying another excellent performance despite the fact that he was unable to break the competition’s all-time try-scoring record.
Tamaiti Williams was dominant yet again as was his front-row partner Fletcher Newell while Moananu makes it a hat-trick of standout performances in the front three.
David Havili also continued his sensational form as he continues to thrive with the captaincy while Will Jordan was as you’d expect, excellent.
However, the same cannot be said for the men in blue jerseys with Stephen Perofeta failing to make the most of his start in the number ten jersey and was rightfully hooked early in the second half.
Rieko Ioane put in a clunky display with several uncharacteristic handling errors while Papali’i managed to come out of the defeat with some credit still.
Finally, Hoskins Sotutu’s return to the Blues starting XV can be kindly described as underwhelming. He was quite simply outplayed by fellow All Blacks hopeful Grace and provided evidence as to why Robertson did not select him last year.
On the surface, it did not appear as though he had a poor outing gaining 71 metres from 16 carries while beating four defenders and completing nine passes.
But look closer and the reality kicks in that he missed two tackles, threw two bad passes and had really soft moments that cost his team dearly.
He was lethargic with his tackle attempt on Havili who simply skipped past him and went just short of the line before Preston rounded off the score. Not too long after, Sotutu offered Fihaki an easy route to the try-line by completely turning his shoulders and feet towards the touchline with the winger simply needing to step inside and sprint into the gap that he was gifted – which he did.
He collided with Ioane in defence after buying the dummy that Grace sold as the Crusaders raced away for their fourth try and was easily disposed of by Lio-Willie at the maul as the Saders powered forward for their fifth try.
Sotutu did draw in three bodies before Christie snuck over the line for the Blues’ second try but again was found wanting in defence for the final play of the match. After failing to complete a tackle on George Bower, he sluggishly folded back into the defensively, limiting his reaction time before Jordan charged into him and the number eight was unable to make a dominant hit on the full-back to drive him backwards and also failed to hold him up slipping the tackle.
The defeat was far from Sotutu’s fault personally but he will need to be far better if he is to change Robertson’s opinion of him. It was from a performance you’d expect from a Super Rugby Pacific MVP.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/blues-v-crusaders-five-takeaways-as-sluggish-all-blacks-hopeful-sums-up-woeful-hosts-while-saders-rise-from-horrific-slump
