There are a couple of things South African, who draw some consolation from the Crusaders being the spine of the All Black team, keep forgetting when they use this as a reason why the New Zealand rugby team has no significance on the psychological build-up to the World Cup.
Yes, the Stormers pack that was outplayed last week is not the Springbok pack.
But the Sharks front row, expected to be the Springbok front row, never made any impression on the Crusaders front row in the two games they played against them with the exception of the last minutes in Nelson, when the Crusaders had made their substitutions.
And when the Bull second row came up against the Crusaders in Timaru earlier this year, a game where they were whitewashed 27-0 by an injury-ravaged team, they lost the battle in all phases of the game — with Crusaders second-string lock Chris Jack emerging as the best lock in the match.
But that is not my reason for being concerned at the statistics for the season, which reflect that in the games against the South African teams that have the most Springboks, the Crusaders have won five, mostly easily, while the local sides never got over the line even once.
It is more rooted in the reality that good though Crusaders have been this year, they have not been anywhere near as good as they could have been. How could they possibly be at their very best if they played none of their games at their headquarters in Christchurch?
Just imagine for a moment that the Bulls went an entire season without playing at Loftus!
It didn’t work out that way for the Stormers this year, but it is at home that most teams deliver their most emphatic performances.
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The Crusaders home games, for what they were, were played in small stadiums.
They are a big stadium team, and maybe a big occasion team too, for it has been in the bigger, special games that they have shown their championship qualities this year.
Twickenham against the Sharks in March and in the two matches against Stormers in Cape Town, were the occasions where the Crusaders really put it together and produced season-defining performances.
Oh, and also in the Nelson match against the Waratahs, their first after the Christchurch earthquake, where they were so clearly driven by the emotion that has since hardened into the steely resolve that recently prompted one local coach to comment: “The earthquake has made the Crusaders mental.” —SuperSport
