Last night at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, the Queensland Reds completed one of the great turnarounds in world sport by winning the massively competitive Super Rugby competition for 2011. After finishing near bottom in 2008 and 2009, they completed their rise to the top by defeating hot favourites Canterbury Crusaders by 18 points to 13, in front of a near-delirious sell-out crowd, who chanted ‘We are Red!’ from start to finish.
Both teams are packed with world-class players and they didn’t disappoint. They applied intense defensive pressure for the full 80 minutes and it took special skills and vision for even a line break. Just three tries were scored in total — one for the Crusaders, fittingly by Dan Carter after a precision grubber and regather, and two for the Reds. Digby Ioane got one with brilliant vision, speed and agility. Will Genia got the other, from 60 metres out, showing typical composure and focus as defenders showed more interest in his support players. Quade Cooper made a significant contribution to both tries and gave further proof of the considerable development he has made this year.
The Crusaders dominated the scrum contest. This was not a surprise, given that Owen Franks is arguably the world’s best scrummaging tight-head and that his hooker and loose-head are also All Blacks. This superiority threatened, at times, to take the game away from the Reds, but to their great credit they kept their focus and simply worked to their maximum.
In what is definitely an excellent lesson for aspiring players, this commitment and composure from the Reds scrum limited the fall-out from their deficiency. They knew that they had other areas of advantage and they were determined to ensure that those advantages were able to deliver the final outcome.
In many ways, however, poor refereeing allowed unfair advantage to the Crusaders’ scrum. Loose-head prop Wyatt Crockett, who is an outstanding forward around the paddock, escaped scot-free throughout the first half, despite the fact that he broke the bind in every single scrum!
Referee Bryce Lawrence is one of the World Cup select group, yet he allowed these consistent infringements for the entire 80 minutes! You ask why many fans are concerned about the scrum for the World Cup — here is your answer! Lawrence did penalise Crockett at the first scrum of the second half (just the once, mind you) but we were unable to view any further problems on the far side of the cameras.
The Reds, somewhat surprisingly, had much the better of the lineout. They forced three crooked throws from the Crusaders in the first 25 minutes and this was significant in interrupting the Crusaders’ periods of dominance derived from their 65 per cent possession share in the first half. As the ref demanded straighter throws, the Reds were able to take another three against the throw and put severe pressure on much other Crusaders’ possession. Crucial games are won and lost on such!
The Crusaders clearly had a focus on restricting Quade Cooper’s genius. All teams will try to do likewise, but the Crusaders had decided that their means to this end was to be by targeting Will Genia — in fact, if the tactic were successful, they would have restricted two threats, both Cooper and Genia. This was somewhat effective, especially at the tackle contest, where they accurately banked on the normal mayhem allowed by New Zealand referees around this area.
What they could not achieve, however, was to ruffle Genia, and his ability to remain composed and absorb the pressure was to prove hugely significant in the outcome. If teams can minimise the damage from periods under siege and they remain confident that their turn will come, they are never out of any match. The Reds have become a very mature team in a short space of time.
The Crusaders may have won the contest at the tackle, but the Reds had some moments here also. Over the season, the counter-ruck has become an important weapon in their armoury and they used it to considerable effect throughout this game. On a few occasions the Reds actually countered the counter-ruck — all hands were needed at the pumps in these torrid battles!
The Reds, though, won more than a few steals, with Beau Robinson at the forefront. Scott Higginbotham and James Horwill also made vital second-half steals to halt periods of significant Crusaders pressure. In addition, the huge impacts from some Reds’ tackles caused turnovers, and the comprehensive turnaround in second-half possession, in favour of the Reds, was the result.
Richie McCaw, who strangely made no significant impact in the match, said afterwards that his team had had chances to win the match, but had not taken them. This was true but is certainly not a common occurrence with the Crusaders. In the first minutes of the match, Fruean dropped a long overs pass, with space in front of him; right on half-time, Sonny Bill Williams just failed to gather a kick ahead, in a handy position; immediately after the resumption of play, Sean Maitland put down a catchable pass to stall a promising play; and there were other non-Crusaderish moments. But these are the deciding moments of high-pressure, high-stakes matches. ‘You take your chances, you win your matches’, but opposition pressure — both physical and mental — is also significant!
While on the subject of Richie, he and a few of his team-mates frequently took an inordinate amount of time to move out of ‘enemy territory’ after the tackle. They often loitered, for what seemed an eternity, taking the space given by law to the opposition players entering the tackle zone – of course, without ever offending Mr. Lawrence. Let us hope that this is not yet another in the litany of offences which continue to appear with monotonous regularity from New Zealand teams.
In the end, there was not much between the teams. Perhaps this was just one mountain too many for the Crusaders in a season of high mountains — although they never offered such an excuse. Perhaps the true grit of the Reds defence, which gave opportunity to their brilliant attack, simply denied the Crusaders any telling advantage. Two wins to the Reds from two encounters this season at Suncorp Stadium. Both close — finals should be close — but significant!
There were a few contenders for my man-of-the-match. Genia is at the very heart of the team, Ioane and Davies always threatened, and Cooper was involved in everything significant. The pack, though, made the victory possible. To describe them as industrious would be the understatement of the year. They look for work under every blade of grass!
So my choice comes from among them — and it is James Horwill. In a true captain’s knock he was a dominant figure throughout and was still going strong right to the very end. He claimed a great catch to secure vital possession from the 22-metre restart in the 75th minute and, in the 80th minute, he made the telling tackle on Franks that brought the final whistle!
Congratulations Reds! You have done all of Australia proud!
