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Rugby

Crusaders’ outside finals hopes now depends on the Rebels beating the Drua tomorrow after an easy win v Moana Pasifika tonight

by Sports Benches

Moana Pasifika might have taken advantage of the opposition team’s slow start but it’s the Crusaders who has been smashing it to fill the first half’s play 26-10 off the back of Codie Taylor’s double TRY as well one from Ethan Blackadder and Ryan Crotty (his last home game) on top of a few successive kicking conversions by the outgoing Fergus Burke (England bound later this year to Saracens).Nothing much was going on after half-time other than more continued Crusaders dominance at last like it was before following a transitional and difficult season. Tries coming from Noah Notham, Dallas McLeod and Macca Stringer helped extend their lead to 43 points while Moana were unable to turn things around at all. The final score belongs to the Crusaders fair and square to wrap up the regular season 43-10 v Moana Pasifika at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch. 

Ethan Blackadder even though he had some injury troubles before wasn’t shy at all by physically smashing the Moana Pasifika on the openside Crusaders No.7 tonight in Christchurch. He was simply doing the hard years every time the winning penalties & possession gave him a chance to help open that door & fish those big points including one for him while Ethan kept a great eye as being tested defensively. The good news is that he will stick around next year alongside several now first year group of youngsters & continue to be at their best like it was before that produced lots of silverware. Looking ahead to the future and let’s hope the Crusaders can keep on rebuilding to hopefully be No.1 again is 21-year-old left winger Macca Stringer. Sure he has learnt a lot from the likes of Sevu Reece & Johnny McNicholl with lots of energy to burn and seeing him picking up the pieces to process the TRY off McNicholl later in the 2nd half was unbelievable. As said, it’s not easy settling in right away when so many big players move on as it does take time before going next level. However, he’s the next best thing to come out the Crusaders talent factory – look out for him in 2025 & maybe a bit longer if he keeps on improving well for the All Blacks shirt.

For now, we’ll wait and see if the Rebels can give them a second chance tomorrow for next week’s finals as long as they can beat the Fijian Drua away in Suva. And Lotu Inisi continues to showcase his magic for the Moana Pasifika No.8 jersey, even though it wasn’t an easy night as a whole team when the Crusaders were too good. He was so onto it with the ball every time including earlier in the first half off a winning penalty line-out before he threw an unreal inside pass to his brother Fine (both tall & quick!) & there you go with the TRY! Shame they couldn’t stop the Saders in its tracks while picking up plenty of ill-discipline as Moana have improved in some way on their third year even though there’s still a long way to go to be Top 6-8.

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Rugby

Queensland Reds shut down the Crusaders with a huge 28-33 win in Christchurch for the first time that goes back to Round 5 in 1999

by Sports Benches

So there we have it, it’s great seeing a Australian Super Rugby team taking the win on New Zealand’s turf and it’s the Reds who won v the Crusaders in Christchurch for the first time in 25 years that goes back to Round 5 in 1999 at the old Jade Stadium 23-36. The first half saw the Reds off to a flying start where they were leading 7-14 at half-time despite the one late Crudsaders TRY, with back-to-back tries from Fraser McReight & Tim Ryan. 

Then the 2nd half was a high scoring one as the Saders cancelled Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen’s early 2nd half TRY where they were level on points 21-21 after two quick tries in quick succession. But a series of late 2nd half sloppy mistakes went the Reds way which proved so costly, even though a late comeback wasn’t enough to nail them down as the clock ticks down to full-time. Although the Crusaders do take home the one bonus point, but again, this game has to be the Reds moment who has now beaten both 2023 finalist in the Chiefs and now Crusaders as they leapfrogged the Melbourne Rebels (coincidentally will be their next game) to 5th on the ladder with four rounds to go. Final score was 28-33.

Gotta say that Reds Number 8 Harry Wilson is sending the message to Joe Schmidt (new Wallabies coach) as to why he has unfinished business after his terrific performance v Crusaders on their turf in Christchurch. He wouldn’t mind bulldozing defenders one bit with the ball on hand as being tested at scrum & line-out time and it seems like he’s better at 1 v 1s as if he’s an individual athlete with a really tall stature, having deflected David Havili’s kick at his danger zone that went his way for the Reds try himself to stop the Saders from stealing the lead. 

Meanwhile, look out NZers as “The Junkyard Dog” Tim Ryan made such an instant impact from the minute he made his Super Rugby debut for the Reds last week at age 20 v Blues. He continues to cause problems like a sprint track athlete where no one couldn’t stop him this time with two tries against the Crusaders. He’s also a bit over 6ft tall similar to Max Jorgensen at the Waratahs as both can play anywhere in the backline – they’d even be a dangerous combo in the hope Joe can fast track Tim in the green & gold shirt like Max sooner rather than later. Great to see the Reds continue on the winning track in recent weeks (3-in-row now) following their big moment for the first time in 25 years in Christchurch with plenty of optimism ahead & they will be playing Melbourne Rebels next up at Suncorp Stadium (home turf) on Friday. 

And Quinten Strange has been breaking the Reds down in order for his Crusaders to find their way through the gate on the second row at No.5. He credits these winning penalties so he can get his head down with a mix of strong steel and really towering eye that puts them back in contention during the 2nd 40 including one for himself to tie the lead. Yes, they were unlucky to fall short as they can still just make the Top 8 with four rounds left, but a poor start including a number of errors later on saw the Reds win instead.

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