Super Rugby: Crusaders Coming into Form After Slow Start

The Crusaders are well-known for their slow starts. Every year, they sputter along for the first month of Super Rugby, before igniting and embarking on a run that ends in making the playoffs. Yet it seems that every year, we all still question them after some ordinary performances in the first few weeks.

Indeed, even with all the doubters out in full force, the Crusaders have a record of four wins and three losses. This week, they sneaked into the last wild-card playoff spot.

It was on the back of a commanding display against the Sharks in Durban that the Crusaders announced to the competition that they are still a force to be reckoned with. The Sharks, who going into the weekend were on top of the South African Conference, lost 52-10 to a Crusaders team that looked threatening every time they had the ball.

Admittedly, the Sharks played half the game with only 14 men. But even with their opponents at their full complement, the Crusaders were too good and at one stage were the dominant team despite having three men in the bin at one time. New Zealand teams are normally happy if they can get a win in South Africa—such is the challenge of touring. That the Crusaders beat such a quality team so comprehensively in the Republic is ominous.

A few weeks ago, such a result seemed unlikely. The first three weeks saw the Crusaders go down to the Rebels, take a thrashing from the Chiefs and claim a sketchy win over the Highlanders.

Only after their bye week in Round 4 have they really looked anything like a playoff team. Even then, it was hard to read too much into their wins at home against the Cheetahs and Lions—the two bottom South African teams, both of whom never travel well.

Their win over the Sharks was the first indication that this team is the real deal.

They have their top players back and are playing a more direct, confident game. When Crusaders teams combine those two attributes, they are tough to beat.

In the forwards, they have plenty of grunt and mobility, something they missed in the early round with the absence of Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock. Both men are the best in the world in their positions and have been highly influential since their return.

Jordan Taufua has been in good form, providing go-forward with ball in hand and hitting hard, while Matt Todd and Richie McCaw have been highly involved.

The backs were just as good in the weekend, with Colin Slade going from strength to strength and showing that he must be an All Black in 2015. He is playing as he did prior to his horrific injury run, taking the ball to the line, distributing well and retaining a cool head to direct play. In Andy Ellis, he has one of the best scrum-halves in the world—another player who must surely be in the All Blacks this year despite somehow being overlooked for the past three years.

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There is plenty of firepower out wide too. Israel Dagg had one of his best games in a Crusaders jersey, running dangerously and coming into the line well. That is good news for Crusaders fans, as Dagg has seldom found top form at Super Rugby level since heading to the franchise in 2011.

As a team, the Crusaders are looking more polished. They have their patterns sorted out and have discarded the lateral game that saw them struggle to gain any penetration in the first few rounds.

This week the Crusaders return home for a rematch with their southern rivals, the Highlanders. The Highlanders have been enjoying a run of good form, and you can bet they will look to take the game to the Crusaders and play an attacking brand of rugby against them.

Despite their apparent poor start, the Crusaders have a winning record and are once again hitting form. It would take a brave person to suggest they will not be there come season's end.