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Crusaders survive the storm, Chiefs inflict more misery on Reds
By Alex Fisher
Torrential rain in Christchurch could not stop the Crusaders moving top of the New Zealand Conference with a 33-11 victory over the winless Sunwolves.
In difficult conditions there were errors aplenty from both sides, but the Crusaders had enough quality to see off a valiant effort from the Japanese visitors.
A double from Ryan Crotty - his first coming in the opening minute - plus scores from Matt Todd, Manasa Mataele and Jack Stratton set up the hosts' win.
The Sunwolves did get on the board before the break through Michael Little, but defensively they were unable to keep Crusaders at bay as they slipped to an eighth loss of the Super Rugby campaign.
"It made it slippery, especially when the hail came down, and it probably took us too long to adjust," said Todd.
"They made us work for every point we got. We had to defend our line at times, and then we built some phases to get some points late which was pleasing."
In Brisbane, the Reds' miserable run of form continued as they were thrashed 36-12 by the Chiefs, the hosts' fourth defeat in a row.
Victory was assured in the opening half hour at Suncorp Stadium as the Chiefs racked up 24 points, showing quick hands to keep the ball moving and create scoring opportunities for Tyler Ardron, Charlie Ngatai and Brodie Retallick.
Liam Polwart extended the Chiefs' advantage early in the second half and although Samu Kerevi's brace threatened to rob the Chiefs of a bonus point, Samisoni Taukei'aho went over after the clock had gone red to secure a maximum haul.
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There is nothing particularly significant about Ireland in this regard compared to other Tier 1 nations. To look at 'strategy' for illegal play its best to see what teams push boundaries with new laws. SA have milked two tries at ruck block downs. The strategy is to charge the first few before the ball is out at about 4 seconds but pull out and put up hands in reigned apology. The referees usually allow the scum half to clear without awarding a penalty in this scenario. The problem with that being that the scrumhalf is now taking over 5 seconds through no fault of his own. Having achieved a few slow balls > 5s , the SA forward can now pick a scrum to charge dead on 5s. Now if the scrum half waits, he will concede a penalty, as we saw against Scotland. With the new rule in place, any early charge should result in an immediate penalty.
SA also got an offside block against England which was pivotal again after a couple of 'apologetic' offside aborted charges forcing England to clear slowly.
Go to commentsYep, you're not the sharpest tool in the shed are you?
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