Brumbies slaughtered..

[KenyaQuin]

Crusaders begin in confident fashion
Friday 15th February 2008 Planetrugby

The Crusaders got their 2008 Super 14 campaign off to an emphatic start on Friday, winning the opening game of the tournament 34-3 against the Brumbies at AMI Stadium and grabbing a bonus point with the final move of the game.

Mose Tuiali'i was the chief architect of the Brumbies' demise, weighing in with the first two tries in appaling underfoot conditions in Christchurch.

The scorers:

For the Crusaders:
Tries: Tuiali'i 2, Thorn, Carter
Cons: Carter 4
Pens: Carter

[Skiza]

Crusaders crush wounded Brumbies - Rugby - Fox Sports
Crusaders crush wounded Brumbies

By David Beniuk
February 15, 2008

THE Brumbies' post-George Gregan and Stephen Larkham era began with a nightmare when they were outmuscled by the Crusaders 34-3 at a waterlogged AMI Stadium in Christchurch.

Adding to the crushing four-tries-to-nil loss was what looked to be a serious ankle injury to Australia star Adam Ashley-Cooper, who was assisted from the field in distress in just the 28th minute.

Possession and territory massively favoured the home side on the back of a dominant scrum, a smart kicking game from five-eighth Daniel Carter and some patient second-half forward play.

But the Brumbies let themselves down with kicks out on the full and blew the few opportunities they did create with poor handling.

Up 10-3 at halftime after the desperate Brumbies had repelled several attacking raids, Crusaders coach Robbie Deans' instruction to revert to wet weather football paid off almost immediately when his side put together 17 phases before No.8 Mose Tuiali'i crashed over for his second try to extend the advantage to 17-3.

Former Brisbane Bronco Brad Thorn put the result beyond doubt when he stormed from the back of a maul in the 70th minute to extend the lead to 27-3.

And Carter, who also booted four conversions and two penalties, finished off some good work from classy fullback Leon MacDonald and ensured a bonus point win moments before the fulltime siren.

The Brumbies had lost both centres to injury by halftime, with former Wallaby tourist Gene Fairbanks unable to take part in the second half.

Some scrambling defence from the Canberrans - and poor execution from the Crusaders - had kept the visitors in it early and a magnificent 43m penalty kick from Julian Huxley locked the scores at 3-3 in the 16th minute.

The Crusaders finally got over the line in the 32nd minute when good lead-up work from fullback MacDonald culminated in Tuiali'i crashing over in the right corner.

Carter's sideline conversion made it 10-3.

The halftime score might have been closer but for the Brumbies' poor handling on the few occasions they did get into position to mount attacking raids.

A Josh Holmes fumble in the 25th minute caused a promising move to break down and Mark Gerrard dropped the ball with the line wide open on the stroke of halftime.

AAP

[slomo]

it wasn't the best game the brumbies will play this year, they just didnt look organised.......

[JediKnight]

Well at least they got their excuses in early.....

Confusion over new rules at Brumbies - Western Force Rugby Supporters Site

[prop53]

yeah and the biggest one was Mortlock being out? What a joke

[TOCC]

well they were missing mortlock and rathbone, then they also lost adam ashley cooper early in the game.

So missing those 3 players would be like the Reds without Barnes-Latham-Turinui or the Force without Giteau-Cross-Shepherd

[GIGS20]

Having watched both games this afternoon, it seems that the tale was in the kicking. The teams that kicked well, and into space were the winners....the Reds probably didn't deserve their victory, but Kicking was the only common denominator in these two games.

[shasta]

Brad Thorn back in rugby and back at The Crusaders. Didn't know about that one. In the starting team too and still firing at the 70min mark. Not bad for an old bastard.

[TOCC]

the Reds probably didn't deserve their victory, but Kicking was the only common denominator in these two games.

well would you say that the highlanders did deserve the victory?

They only time they crossed the tryline was when the Reds fumbled there own ball at a lineout.

[Jess]

sweet action... carter is in my fantasy team.

But poor Brumbies... I didn't rate their chances before this game or the season in general but it's still sad to see my old team get flogged so badly. And also a bit worrying that the Crusaders look pretty good.

Haven't watched this game yet as I'm at a friends house still and we watched the cricket all day (lack of foxtel here) but am assured by OMC that it's been recorded as well as the reds game so can watch them on the weekend.

Burning them onto a DVD so we can play them in the store too.

[tic]

Having watched both games this afternoon, it seems that the tale was in the kicking. The teams that kicked well, and into space were the winners....the Reds probably didn't deserve their victory, but Kicking was the only common denominator in these two games.

A very tough call there - the Reds completely dominated the first half and set the base for the win.

Their defence was outstanding, given the kitchen sink that was thrown at them in the second half.

Plenty of things to work on - like final execution, which could have seen them pile on more than their 3 tries. But there were enough positives to be cautiously optimistic of a better season.

No-one up here will be getting carried away (remembering that the Reds won their first game last year as well).

PS - The Highlanders will be no walkovers this year.

[JediKnight]

Having watched both games this afternoon, it seems that the tale was in the kicking. The teams that kicked well, and into space were the winners....the Reds probably didn't deserve their victory, but Kicking was the only common denominator in these two games.

Interesting then that one of the first comments on Inside Rugby last night was that the new ELVs would counteract the "boring kicking" of the RWC Final when there were 96 kicks (allegedly).

Well, in the interests of fair analysis (& a quiet Friday evening waiting for the Sharks v match), I've just watched the Crusaders v Brumbies game and counted over 50 kicks in the 1st half, not including restarts (kick-offs & drop-outs).

Things 'improved' in the 2nd half with only 30 kicks counted.

Shows how much the Inside Rugby 'experts' know about anything. But then we knew that anyway with their predictions for the year. I swear Kearnsy had a smirk on his face when saying that the Sharks would win easily over the tonight.

[GIGS20]

But the kicking wasn't boring Jedi.... Murray Mextead very nearly had to change his jocks at one point, when the ball had been kicked about ten or fifteen times in two minutes and hadn't gone out once....have you ever played kick to kick Jedi?

That being said. There are gaps to be taken for teams who choose to counterattack when these kicks are fielded, the Highlanders will do a lot of that, it seems to be about all they can do.

In response to the Qld clock (tic and TOCC) I wasn't saying the Reds didn't deserve the win (OK don't read my post back to me, if I put it in there, it was probably just coz, I'm dumb) the Highlanders DEFINITELY didn't deserve to win the game, What I was saying was, the Highlanders didn't pose much opposition at all, yet the Reds failed to truly put them to the sword.. I'd hoped that was clear in my post, maybe not. They'll have to improve...and I'm not saying it looks like they've got much improvement in them. That's all, If they prove me wrong...good on them, I'm just balancing Greg Martin and Clarkey aren't I?

[littleleck]

I'm pretty confident the Tuiali'i is part dinosaur.

[JediKnight]

Scoreline flatters the Crusaders but the Brumbies will struggle this season as they rebuild. Their injury list is worryingly long at this early stage of the season.