1
Recap: Highlanders vs Crusaders | Super Rugby Aotearoa
By RugbyPass
Follow all the action on the RugbyPass live blog from the Super Rugby Aotearoa clash between the Highlanders and Crusaders at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
Keep up to date with the latest score, stats and join the conversation from anywhere in the world in our Live Match Centre (click here).
The Highlanders return home to their sheltered stadium to try get their Super Rugby Aotearoa season back on track after coming so very close to upsetting the Blues in Auckland last week. The Crusaders, meanwhile, are sitting on two wins from two matches after sitting out the opening week of the competition.
All Blacks pair Josh Ioane and Nehe Milner-Skudder are still missing from the Highlanders line-up while the Crusaders have now lost Cullen Grace for the remainder of the season.
After Scott Gregory's less than impressive performance at Eden Park last weekend, the Highlanders have opted to bring Michael Collins into the starting line-up in the troublesome fullback spot. They've also swapped out their front row and handed Ngane Punivai a start on the wing.
The Crusaders, meanwhile, are showing off their outrageous depth by giving Bryn Hall, George Bridge and Sevu Reece rests. In their places come All Blacks Mitch Drummond and David Havili, and promising up-and-comer Leicester Fainga'anuku.
While the Crusaders have had a big advantage of their southern neighbours in recent times, they've not had exceptional luck in Dunedin and will be hoping that they can make the most of the first dry-track they've been able to play on since their Super Rugby Aoterao season got started.
The Highlanders have won two of their last three Super Rugby matches against the Crusaders as hosts on the day, including their most recent meeting in round five, 2018, but they haven’t enjoyed back-to-back wins in such fixtures since 1997-1999.
The Crusaders have won 11 of their last 12 Super Rugby matches, conceding just 7.2 first-half points per game in that stretch.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster
3
Suaalii strikes awe as Wallabies lose midfielder
4
Scott Robertson responds about handling errors
5
Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
Go to comments