The Brumbies have put in a good showing with their new look side but have just come up short of defeating the Crusaders for the first time in Christchurch since 2000. The final score of 17-13 with an inexperienced side were far from disgraced.
The Match
The Crusaders didn’t take long to get into their stride with a relentless attacking period on the Brumbies with Israel Dagg, in his 100th match, and Richie Mo’unga heavily involved. The counter attack specialists easily accepted the ball kicked down their throat to see Seta Tamanivalu score the opening try to give them a 7-0 lead after just four minutes.
It took the Brumbies ten minutes to get into the Crusaders half with Kuridrani and Speight finding good metres and they settled for three points from a penalty goal from Wharenui Hawera.
The Brumbies defence was up to the task as they scrambled to keep the Crusaders out after going down to 14 men after James Dargaville was yellow carded for not allowing Israel Dagg to catch the ball and land without being touched that even the commentators thought was harsh.
A couple of errors from the Brumbies didn’t help their cause with Dargaville in the bin with a penalty kick not finding touch and the Crusaders went close to scoring again following a cross field kick.
The weight of possession would prove too much for the Brumbies to hold out with Whetu Douglas taking advantage of a bad defensive read from Aidan Toua and scoring the second Crusaders try in the right corner.
With half time looming, the Brumbies managed to put together some phases and Joe Powell managed to crack the strong Crusaders defence but poor ball handling saw that chance go to waste to leave the score at 12-3 at half time.
The Brumbies started the second half in good fashion as a fantastic try to Rory Arnold after he initially started off the movement. Some great interplay with some good hands from Smiler, Dargaville and Carter saw the big man score in the left corner and Hawera’s conversion made it just a two point game.
The game started to open up in the second half and both sides looked likely to add to the scoreboard with George Bridge dropping a crossfield kick and the Brumbies going close after one counter attacking chance.
A period of scrum skullduggery followed before the Crusaders flexed their muscle and got the upper hand and Pete Samu picked the ball up and scored for the Crusaders to extend the lead to seven with just over twenty minutes to go.
Scott Fardy was keeping the Brumbies in the game and managed to steal one ball to keep the Crusaders at bay in his usual hard at the ball manner.
The Brumbies didn’t get much ball to work with and for the second time they failed to find touch from a penalty, which halted any momentum they had.
The Brumbies edged the gap to four points from another Hawera penalty to make it a tense finish and Mo’unga shanked his attempt from virtually in front to give the Brumbies a sniff of victory but the Crusaders managed to hold on for a close 17-13 win.
As expected after round one, there will be a few things to work on at training this week before the Sharks game next week as the new combinations become more familiar with each other.
[one_third last=”no”]
The Game Changer
Nothing too obvious but conceding the try from the scrum and failing to find touch from a crucial penalty hurt them[/one_third]
[one_third last=”no”]
The G&GR MOTM
Israel Dagg – Played a top game with excellent counter attacking play in his 100th game[/one_third]
[one_third last=”yes”]
Wallaby Watch
The Brumbies Wallabies contingent stood up well in a tough match. Fardy, Kurudrani and Arnold put in good performances[/one_third]
The Details
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]CRUSADERS 17
Tries: Tamanivalu, Douglas, Samu
Conversions: Mo’unga
Penalties:
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]BRUMBIES 13
Tries: Arnold
Conversions: Hawera
Penalties: Hawera 2
[/one_half]
Cards
23 mins – Dargaville (Brumbies) – Yellow
