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Fans call into question the Crusaders' tactics as repeated warnings go unpunished
By Online Editors
The Crusaders played spoilers on Friday night with a comprehensive 43-17 win over the Highlanders on what was Ben Smith's 150th appearance for the club.
After a tight first half where the Highlanders built an early 10-0 lead, the Crusaders exploded with 36 unanswered points, overcoming a 10-7 half time deficit.
However, despite the brilliance of the Crusaders, their questionable contests at the breakdown came under the spotlight as referee Ben O'Keeffe failed to take action until the 80th minute.
After repeated warnings, only after the fulltime buzzer did he decide to go to the pocket to yellow card Crusaders replacement prop Ben Funnel.
Highlanders captain Ben Smith was heard on the referee mic early in the match asking the referee to police the ruck area as he said his side wanted to play with tempo and was concerned the Crusaders were deliberately slowing the ball down.
The Hurricanes who were hammered by the Crusaders 32-8 in Wellington also suffered similar issues and it was again referee Ben O'Keeffe who left the breakdown unmanaged.
Will anyone be able to stop the Crusaders if they are allowed to make a mockery of the ruck every week?
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Latest Comments
The New Zealand performance in the return fixture in 2016 was filthy. A lot of Irish supporters were pretty shocked by it, viewed it as de facto cheating just to avoid another defeat.
Also shocked by the abuse to Ireland, captain, vice-captain and spectators after the full time whistle in Paris defeat, last match.
Sledging is sledging, but that happens during the game and targetting spectators should be completely out of bounds.
The Irish public used to enjoy these matches, even in defeat. Now they are necessary but unpleasant, because NZ apparently cannot accept or respect successful challengers.
Go to commentsThanks for the analysis Nick, thought provoking as usual. Couple of queries though, in the pic where you've circled Williams bind , I'm pretty sure it shows Stuart's knee on the ground, surely that's a NZ penalty? Also having had the chance to watch it again the All Black scrum seeems to improve after halftime, but before either England or the All Blacks replace their props. Not sure if that was the result of Tuipolutu coming on or some halftime tips. Either way this is only Williams second international season, so he'll be better for the experience.
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