Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'Adults versus kids': Ex-Wallaby says Crusaders are now out of the picture

The Crusaders huddle before the second half during the round nine Super Rugby Pacific match between Western Force and Crusaders at HBF Park on April 20, 2024, in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Janelle St Pierre/Getty Images)

Former Wallaby Mat Rogers has put a fork through the Crusaders’ playoff hopes after the side’s 37-15 defeat at the hands of the Western Force.

ADVERTISEMENT

Despite the two sides being coming into the game with just one win each in 11th and 12th place respectively, the home side rallied to deliver a spirited showing in Kurtley Beale’s debut.

“The Crusaders, they had 14 turnovers tonight, I think half of them would have been from solid defensive hits from the Force,” Rogers explained.

Video Spacer
Video Spacer

“They were in their faces all night.”

Dual code international Allana Ferguson compared the Crusaders to children after watching the Force maul demolish them for a third time.

“What about that, that just looks like adults versus kids, that was outstanding,” Ferguson said of the Force’s final maul try.

The Force travel to New Zealand to face the Highlanders, the Chiefs and before returning home to face the Fijian Drua and NSW Waratahs.

Match Summary

5
Penalty Goals
0
4
Tries
3
1
Conversions
0
0
Drop Goals
0
72
Carries
141
4
Line Breaks
5
6
Turnovers Lost
13
7
Turnovers Won
4

Rogers believed that two of the game are winnable, putting them in the hunt for the final eight but he was prepared to write off the Crusaders chances.

ADVERTISEMENT

“The confidence that they’ll take off the back of this, Kurtley slotting into that side, he’s only been there a week,” Rogers said of the Force.

“Give him a couple more he will get better, the confidence will grow from within the team. Who knows what the future holds for this team, but they are going to put themselves in the picture.

“I’ve now taken the Crusaders out of that picture. I don’t think they can get there.”

The Crusaders travel home for two games against Australian sides, the Rebels and the Reds, before the southern derby against the Highlanders.

ADVERTISEMENT

They then play the Brumbies in Canberra before returning home to play rivals the Blues.

“Yeah, the Crusaders are gone for me too,” Ferguson agreed.

“What I liked about the Force’s game tonight was it was quite balanced. They were successful in a few different ways. Their attack in the first half I thought was pretty good and the defence was what won it for them in the end.

“Obviously the rolling maul was on fire as well, I thought they were pretty well balanced in how they got the win over the Crusaders.”

Related

ADVERTISEMENT

Classic Wallabies vs British & Irish Legends | First Match | Full Match Replay

Did the Lions loosies get away with murder? And revisiting the Springboks lift | Whistle Watch

The First Test, Visiting The Great Barrier Reef & Poetry with Pierre | Ep 6: The Ultimate Test

KOKO Show | July 22nd | Full Throttle with Brisbane Test Review and Melbourne Preview

New Zealand v South Africa | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

USA vs England | Men's International | Full Match Replay

France v Argentina | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

Lions Share | Episode 4

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
JW 1 hour ago
Leicester Fainga'anuku denied All Blacks eligibility for TRC

I don’t get that. I got the opposite, this was something Lester really really wanted to do. NZR is not going to stop him doing that by putting ridiculous money in front of him (noted you were only asking for fair money).


I wouldn’t say this was a Mo’unga or Frizell situation where there talent only was unlocked after they signed abroad, when Schmidt and Ryan came in respectively. LF was on a good trajectory, and he just decided he has the perfect window of opportunity to go abroad while he’s not first choice, learn and live in France to come back better and have a good shot at the perfect age. I think he recongised that.


Agreed that our rotation has been off the the last decade, players have not been moved on when they should, but I wouldn’t include Rieko in that discussion, though I would accept he is more of a marketing than performance signing.


Also agree it is a strange condunrum that results from the misalligned seasons, where Lester is straight into NPC in the same season almost. When really the ‘start’ of his contract is next year. Is he even going to be on the payroll at the moment? Could it be used as a double dip to encourage players back, a ‘bonus international season’ of match fees.


But they also don’t want them to become anymore common. So perhaps everything is fine? Like I was alluding to with Toko, they would need multiple markers of their own in Top 14 for them to be able to gauge off. As I’ve said in previous articles I’d be comfortable to expand sabbaticals to 2 in every position (yes a huge change), so that the was a core group of 30 of the top players all aligned with the ABs and overseas at any one time. This would ensure there are good markers to correlate levels of performance amongst everyone. This is a very similar setup/size to South Africa. It is like the AB modem in a wider organism, the vets are shipped off much earlier, and the core of next cycle is brought through. No missing out on the JGPs or Aki’s, no the Antonio’s or young Patrick Tuifua’s to france, keeping the Chandler Cunningham-South’s or Roots brothers, evan this Dubious guy from the French team was playing rugby here in NZ and could have stayed with a more ground up focus on bringing players through, not paying them much etc lol

45 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ How the Lions' injury-dogged 'Jukebox' Tadhg Furlong is still producing great hits How the Lions' injury-dogged 'Jukebox' Tadhg Furlong is still producing great hits