SupeRugby Final 2011: Queensland Reds V Canterbury Crusaders

[DPK]

Didn't mind the scrum decisions from Lawrence. A lot of the time we hear people complaining that the refs should allow play to continue when the ball reaches the back of the scrum- I believe this, and it seemed to happen last night. Good for the spectacle.

Good to see Genia back to top speed when running.

 

[vidiot]

I have yet to watch the recording. "Seated" at the northern (Caxton St) end some things were obvious and others mysterious, though the tries kept happening right below us - bonus!

The guy behind me was from Sydney and I heard him say "the crowds nervous" as the teams took the field and I remember thinking that everyone - Crusaders, Reds, crowd - was nervous and after mistake after mistake wondering when someone was going to settle into the game

Two other thoughts through the game

1) The reds defence wins them the big games, and they were all over it last night. When they made tackle after tackle despite the territory dominance of the Cru in the first half, I felt comforted the they were a few seconds of attacking composure away from the win. Carters grubber/pickup was brilliant to get through, but apart from that he midfield was pretty hard to penetrate and as mentioned by others SBW and Fruean in particular were kept pretty quiet. Lance and Tapuai played out of their skins, so promising!

2) Genias and Coopers kicking was frustrating to watch but a lot of the time the ball was very contestable and the crusaders dealt with it worse than they would have if Carter had time to catch and kick long or come back with their runners. And when the crusaders returned that kick with a high kick, their defensive line was not well formed.

 

[RugbyReg]

Australian Rugby Union is today celebrating an historic and record breaking Super Rugby Final, that saw the subscription TV audience and Super Rugby crowd records smashed as the Queensland Reds claimed their maiden Super Rugby title.



Last night's gripping Super Rugby Final between the Reds and the Crusaders obliterated the subscription television ratings record with an average audience of 518,000 viewers tuning in to the Live and Exclusive broadcast on FOX SPORTS 3HD & FOX SPORTS 3.



The dramatic encounter between two of the competition's most entertaining teams delivered Australian subscription television its first average audience in excess of 500,000, surpassing the World Cup Qualifier match between the Socceroos and Uzbekistan, by around 20%, which was seen by an average audience of 431,000 in April 2009.



The match also attracted some 185,000 more viewers than the previous most watched Super Rugby broadcast, which was the 2008 decider between the Crusaders and Waratahs.



Subscription TV records weren’t the only ones being set last night with the highest ever crowd for a provincial Rugby game turning out at Suncorp Stadium.



A record 52,113 came through the gates for last night’s final eclipsing the previous provincial Rugby crowd record of 49,327 set in 1907 between NSW and New Zealand at the SCG.



ARU Managing Director and CEO, John O’Neill AO, said the energy and excitement around the 2011 Super Rugby season had culminated in an historic record breaking Final for Queensland and Australian Rugby.



“This is a wonderful result and congratulations to the Reds for what has been a phenomenal season,” Mr O’Neill said.



“Their ability to play not only winning Rugby but with flair and panache - an entertaining style that has attracted people to our game around the country - is reflected in these record shattering numbers.



“It was a Red letter day for Queensland last night and continues today with these unprecedented subscription TV results.”



The record ratings for the 2011 Super Rugby Final caps an unparalleled season of Super Rugby on FOX SPORTS, where regular season average audiences for Live matches were 41% higher than the previous season.



NEW SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION RATINGS RECORD



2011 SUPER RUGBY FINAL

QUEENSLAND REDS v CRUSADERS

SATURDAY 9 JULY, 2011

AVERAGE AUDIENCE: 518,000



Previous record subscription television audience: 431,000 (Socceroos v Uzbekistan World Cup Qualifier, April 1, 2009).



Previous Record Audience For Super Rugby Broadcast On FOX SPORTS: 333,000 (2008 FINAL – Crusaders v Waratahs).

 

[Lindommer]

RED, I'm off to REDS Fan day to soak all of this. ... The $1000s and $1000s of dollars I've spent over the many many years with my member's ticket, waiting, hoping this day would come, it was all worth it. Last night to be there at our home GF... Go you good thing. RED

And you support the Mules. Que?

 

[biggsy]

And you support the Mules. Que?

good one,

 

[Set piece magic]

so wait...

does that figure mean it was the highest ever watched program on pay-tv?

Like out of every other channel, be it foxsports of discovery, the super rugby 2011 grand final was the most watched thing ever? Slightly ambiguous

 

[rugby eye]

2) Genias and Coopers kicking was frustrating to watch but a lot of the time the ball was very contestable and the crusaders dealt with it worse than they would have if Carter had time to catch and kick long or come back with their runners. And when the crusaders returned that kick with a high kick, their defensive line was not well formed.

Totally agree couldnt see much point to alot of genia's boxkicks. Most went straingth up and down with a poor chase. One went out on the full and others caused large gains for the crusaders yet he continued to do it.

 

[Sully]

There is a theory that the Reds didn't want to play structured Crusader type rugby and preferred the broken rugby style that the box kicks produced. Just a theory.

 

[mark_s]

Congrats to the reds, well deserved and its been a pleasure to be a watcher of the "journey". Was an absorbing game, the crusaders dominated the breakdown (and scrum), but the price they paid was that they struggled to do alot with it and couldn't go too wide due to the numbers they were committing to the breakdown. Reds were almost the complete opposite. How must the saders be regretting BBBT not giving that pass, while they subsequently got 3 points, it let off all the pressure on the reds.

Best thing about the reds was that they managed to remain composed despite being under immense pressure at some stage.
gamne was worthy of a final. Officiating was mixed, but both teams haad their turns at different stages and both had their opportunities to win which is all you can ask for really.

Congrats to the Saders for their season. No team has (or will) ever have a season like what they have had this year and to go down swinging right up to the siren in the final was a herculean effort.

 

[Scarfman]

Two things you don't want to do against the Crusaders: (1) kick deep to them - you will lose that battle (2) let them catch you behind the advantage line - they will counter ruck in your territory. Sure, some of Genia's box kicks were awful, but the strategy as a whole was pure genius.

 

[twenty seven]

There is a theory that the Reds didn't want to play structured Crusader type rugby and preferred the broken rugby style that the box kicks produced. Just a theory.

I think you nailed it.That was the theory we decided upon too. Crusaders love structured play and the Reds were determined not to let them have that.

 

[barbarian]

Two things you don't want to do against the Crusaders: (1) kick deep to them - you will lose that battle (2) let them catch you behind the advantage line - they will counter ruck in your territory. Sure, some of Genia's box kicks were awful, but the strategy as a whole was pure genius.

Agree that the strategy was fine, it was just the execution that let them down. Too often the kicks were too short, charged down or there was no chase. But in the end the Crusaders weren't good enough to capitalise, and the Reds scrambled very well when the Crusaders were on the counter.

 

[Tangawizi]

There is a theory that the Reds didn't want to play structured Crusader type rugby and preferred the broken rugby style that the box kicks produced. Just a theory.

Is Link the theorist becuase the Reds used the exactly the same tactics against the Crusaders in the game in May too? What an awesome night.

Here's that crowd pic from 2008 again to compare with a shot I took last night. How good was the crowd? The place went off for 100 minutes. And I think Richie must have been offside all night because I drank a shitload of beers...

Well done to both teams for putting on a great final!

Ticker tape parade in the Queen St Mall from 12:15pm tomorrow as a last celebration before the Wallabies players depart.

 

[Tahfan]

<rant>
Quade Cooper's disgraceful surrender of a non tackle on Dan Carter for his try is prove positive of why the Wallabies will struggle to win the world cup. For all his attacking flair he shows all the fight of the french in defence. Sure he may not have stopped the try (in fact PROBABLY not) but to not even attempt to stop it or at a minimum make the conversion a bit harder is criminally negligent.
<end rant>

That said. WELL DONE REDS! Great to see the team that has played the best rugby for the longest period win the whole thing. Good arm wrestle of a final and great to see McKenzie get over the line and win one. Amazing turnarounds for Beau Robinson & Radike Samo and the commitment showed for the whole game (save my above rant) was nothing short of exceptional. Hope my boys can keep their team fit next year and make it an aussie derby final!

Also a huge congrats to the crusaders. Having gone through one hell of a shit storm of a year to get within a knock on of maybe winning the whole thing was a hell of an achievement and shows just why they are the champion side they are.

 

[Victorian Reds Fan]

Watched the game again today. Why was Phil Kearns not commentating?

 

[biggsy]

Greg Marto should have done the same....
He was Pathetic last night.


Went to the Reds fan day today. It was good lying on the hill in the sun supporting a hangover waiting for the Reds to turn up. As the Boys walked down through the crowd,they were still lose, must have come straight from the Normanby Hotel to Ballymore. They all put on Braves faces for the kids and the kids loved it. Signing and taking photos with everyone.

 

[AngrySeahorse]

He lost me when he said that the Reds "probably deserved to win" (or something along those lines). The Reds won, they deserved to win (albeit the Crusaders were horribly handicapped by having to travel to and from the Republic - but that is what the draw required them to do) and he really should have said that.

The only thing I can think of is they were also disadvantaged by not getting some easy points, i.e. not playing the Rebels at all whereas the Reds got to play them twice (with all due respect to the Rebels that very well could have been x2 wins plus bonus points for the Crusaders). I dont know what playing the Rebels and winning against them twice wouldve done for the Crusaders in terms of the ladder, maybe finishing in a part of the ladder where they wouldnt of had to travel to SA (I dont have the time to go do all the working out). But that have been what he was suggesting, cant know for sure though, cant read the mans mind.

 

[Tangawizi]

Hmmm, have a sook mate.......

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/5262480/Crusaders-at-a-loss-to-explain-Super-loss

Even Crusaders skipper Richie McCaw appeared shell-shocked as he attempted to explain his side's 18-13 defeat to the Queensland Reds in last night's Super Rugby final.

While their fans were left wondering just how the team could produce a dud performance littered with handling errors, poor passing, a struggling lineout and questionable option-taking, the Crusaders themselves also struggled to explain why they had misfired so badly.

Having entered the match as favourites to topple the minor premiers, the Crusaders inexplicably manufactured one of their worst performances of the year as they were outscored by two-tries-to-one.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

For me, it was the Reds ratcheting up the pressure in the second half and the Cru didn't have the gas to go with them. If anything, the Reds increased their line speed and strengthened the defensive wall even further than the first half. Apart from a couple of notable opportunities, the Cru didn't really threaten in attack a great deal. They looked shot in the last 20 and it's pretty understandable, whereas the Reds looked fresh and eager to knock blokes over until the last minute.

 

[Sully]

Review up on the front page. Not my best work! I am hungover too you know.
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/super-rugby-final-reds-v-crusaders-review/