Crusaders v Reds Prelim 1

[something]

i find that reds and crusaders are almost polar opposite teams (if going purely on reputation).

one being very new-age, young & naive, full of superstars & the other being the more traditional, more calculated and more experienced team.

always a good game

 

[Brisbok]

one being very new-age, young & naive, full of superstars & the other being the more traditional, more calculated and more experienced team.

Which one's which in that scenario?

 

[wamberal]

Just BTW:

Before EVERY one of the recent Reds v Cru games, the outputs from blogs and pro commentators were all the same: "The wonderful, tough, know-all-about-finals-rugby, great players dominating, overwhelming favourites, Crusaders vs the highly talented but somehow less strong, less experienced and less able Reds. Crusaders surely must win it."

The Crusaders have won 7 titles, the Reds have won 1, and that was in a season when the Crusaders' campaign was completely derailed, they had to travel to and from Africa the week before the final, and still took it down to the wire.


The Reds are not "somehow less strong, less experienced and less able". They are actually less strong, less experienced and less able.


The Crusaders have a stack of ABs, who seem to have the wood over us pretty often.

 

[Zander]

Both sides have 13 internationals.

 

[Scoey]

The Crusaders have won 7 titles, the Reds have won 1, and that was in a season when the Crusaders' campaign was completely derailed, they had to travel to and from Africa the week before the final, and still took it down to the wire.

I get tired of this crap. No one will argue that the Saders are the best S15 team in the history of Super Rugby - not a single person. But this weekend is a two horse race.

In 2011 on the way into the game I lost count of the amount of times that I was told by black and red clad folk that pronounce their vowels funny that The Crusaders have won 7 titles to our zip. A couple of hours later what did that count for? Nothing. Do you know the one thing I didn't get told by Saders fans before the game? Geez we've had a tough year; lots of travel y'know? Not once, but once they lose every bastard starts peeling off that old chestnut to undermine what the Reds had achieved. It's BS.

The Reds are not "somehow less strong, less experienced and less able". They are actually less strong, less experienced and less able.

I'm calling you on this one too. Can you quantify any of this? No. This gets sorted on the weekend.

The Crusaders have a stack of ABs, who seem to have the wood over us pretty often.

We have a stack of Wallabies also. This isn't test footy. It's Super Rugby and the Saders do not have the wood over the Reds.

The Crusaders are $1.20 favourites. Deservedly so. But like I said, it's a two horse race on the weekend and even though the Crusaders players themselves will be confident going in I strongly doubt if even them would be shocked if the Reds get up.

/RANT

 

[Zander]

I'd have the Reds favourite, like I said, the Rebels and Waratahs pretty much outplayed the Crusaders in Christchurch, there's nothing to be afraid of.

I thought the Reds' defence last week was incredible, that will frustrate the Crusaders a lot.

 

[Brisbok]

.....on the way into the game....

I suspect that might be the main difference in this one. If the game was being played at Suncorp you'd have the Reds as favourites. The teams are relatively evenly matched as can be seen in their final placing on the table.

You'd have to say home ground advantage is worth 5-10 points in a knock out game and on that basis you'd think the Crusaders will win. Stranger things have definitely happened though!

Agree that the "Crusaders have finals experience since they've won 7 titles" statement gets a bit too much air time. The last one they won was in 2008, so this particular Reds team actually has more experience in winning a Super Rugby final than the current Crusaders do!

 

[FrankLind]

Should be pretty even, but I think home ground advantage will be the clincher for the Saders.

 

[Scoey]

Agree that the "Crusaders have finals experience since they've won 7 titles" statement gets a bit too much air time. The last one they won was in 2008, so this particular Reds team actually has more experience in winning a Super Rugby final than the current Crusaders do!

This is the part that I have most trouble with but you have summed it up nicely for mine. I haven't done the figures so I'm not making a guess either way, but how many players named to play on Sat have won a championship? The organisation of the Crusaders has won a shit load but they aren't playing on Sat, the players are.

 

[Bowside]

Reds to lose it in close one I reckon.

The reds haven't been able to execute in attack this season like they use to. I actually reckon it is due to the lack of ball players in the backrow.

Higgers and Samo were two big, fast blokes who knew how to hit a gap and offload. Now we have Quirk and Schatz, who are better in the tight (hence why our defence is soo good) but lack the penetration.

Expect no team to score more than 20 or so points.

 

[Bullrush]

I'll go out on a limb and say that the Crusaders will blow the Reds out of the water. Man for man I'd pick most of the Crusaders over the Reds and I get the feeling that if they 'click' then they have more firepower on offence and defence to match the Reds.

I think the Reds will need the Crusaders to play well below their best to win this one.

 

[Scoey]

If the Crusaders 'click' they will win. I'm happy with that statement. Seeing them at their devastating best Vs the Chiefs a couple of weeks ago was amazing.

The second statement not so much. This game could well be quite tight. If both teams play well then there won't be a lot in it. A missed tackle or a silly penalty all that separates them potentially.

 

[RedsHappy]

IIRC, at least in the eyes of the commentators, in the last encounter in NZ there were legitimately identified ref howlers (was it one B Lawrence in charge?) at scrum (and maybe other) times with, as but one instance, a Cru prop placing his hand to the ground to save the Cru scrum and the AR right there totally missed it.

It was a very close game.

 

[Bullrush]

If the Crusaders 'click' they will win. I'm happy with that statement. Seeing them at their devastating best Vs the Chiefs a couple of weeks ago was amazing.

The second statement not so much. This game could well be quite tight. If both teams play well then there won't be a lot in it. A missed tackle or a silly penalty all that separates them potentially.

I actually meant that if they 'click' they will smoke the Reds. If they don't, they'll probably grind out a win.

 

[ACT Crusader]

Past seasons mean very little especially the ones where some of the players that run out tomorrow were still in primary school....

The best indicator for what will happen IMO is what has happened this season and the immediate form and health of the players and the overall performance of the two sides.

 

[Athilnaur]

a Cru prop placing his hand to the ground to save the Cru scrum

Weird, for some reason the names Earp and Davey popped into my head, how odd

 

[ACT Crusader]

As for the Saders v Canes game, I thought the Saders were trying way too hard in attack to try and score tries off almost every phase. The canes defence was very staunch but we didn't really change things up and play the percentages which we showed in previous games.

Saders needed a 4 try BP win from the game to go on top of the NZ conference, and then hope the Blues turn up vs the Chiefs. In the end it didn't matter given the Chiefs just pipped the Blues

 

[No.8]

Crusaders 33 - Red 12

 

[No4918]

Past seasons mean very little especially the ones where some of the players that run out tomorrow were still in primary school..

The best indicator for what will happen IMO is what has happened this season and the immediate form and health of the players and the overall performance of the two sides.

There is no need to be so logical.

 

[Athilnaur]

I'll go out on a limb and say that the Crusaders will blow the Reds out of the water. Man for man I'd pick most of the Crusaders over the Reds and I get the feeling that if they 'click' then they have more firepower on offence and defence to match the Reds.

I think the Reds will need the Crusaders to play well below their best to win this one.