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Scott Barrett’s honest assessment of Crusaders’ third loss to start season
By Finn Morton
Crusaders captain Scott Barrett has blamed the defending champions’ third-straight loss to start the season on poor execution after they went down to the Fijian Drua 20-10 on Saturday.
Wing Sevu Reece scored the opening try of the afternoon in the 18th minute to cap off a relatively strong opening quarter from the reigning Super Rugby Pacific champions.
But it was all one-way traffic from there as the Fijian Drua took control. The hosts scored 17 unanswered points as they held a one-score lead going into the final 30 minutes of play.
The Crusaders had a number of opportunities inside the Drua’s half, but time and time again, the men wearing black and red came up short as they failed to claw their way back.
Fly-half Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, 20, iced the game with a late penalty goal in the 78th minute. The game was theirs as the Crusaders were left to rue what could’ve been.
“We just didn’t execute,” captain Scott Barrett said on the broadcast after the 10-point defeat.
“We had multiple opportunities down there, particularly around our lineout and we just weren’t sharp and clinical like we’d hoped.”
The Crusaders are the first team to reach a 0-3 record this season, with the Western Force the only other side searching for their first win at the time of writing.
Without the likes of Richie Mo’unga and lock Sam Whitelock, the defending champions have struggled during their defeats to the Chiefs, Waratahs and now Drua during the opening three rounds.
Mitchell Drummond, Noah Hotham and Willi Heinz have all started at halfback across the three matches, and there has been some rotation at fly-half as well.
With new coach Rob Penney at the helm, the Crusaders seem to still be searching for their new identity and flow in the post-Scott Robertson era.
“We were clear on our game plan. It was pretty simple and we just didn’t execute,” Barrett added.
“Greasy ball, little opportunities and you give the Fijian Drua a sniff and they’ll really punish you.”
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Latest Comments
We beat Wales. Oh wow.
Go to commentsAs has been the way all year, and for all England's play I can remember. I missed a lot of the better years under Eddie though.
Lets have a look at the LQB for the last few games... 41% under 3 sec compared to 56% last week, 47% in the game you felt England best in against NZ, and 56 against Ireland.
That was my impression as well. Dunno if that is a lack of good counterattack ball from the D, forward dominance (Post Contact Meters stats reversed yesterday compared to that fast Ireland game), or some Borthwick scheme, but I think that has been highlighted as Englands best point of difference this year with their attack, more particularly how they target using it in certain areas. So depending on how you look at it, not necessarily the individual players.
You seem to be falling into the same trap as NZs supporters when it comes to Damien McKenzie. That play you highlight Slade in wasn't one of those LQB situations from memory, that was all on the brilliance of Smith. Sure, Slade did his job in that situation, but Smith far exceeded his (though I understand it was a move Sleightholme was calling for). But yeah, it's not always going to be on a platter from your 10 and NZ have been missing that Slade line, in your example, more often than not too. When you go back to Furbank and Feyi-Waboso returns you'll have that threat again. Just need to generate that ball, wait for some of these next Gen forwards to come through etc, the props and injured 6 coming back to the bench. I don't think you can put Earl back to 7, unless he spends the next two years speeding up (which might be good for him because he's getting beat by speed like he's not used to not having his own speed to react anymore).
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