Dan Carter, SBW guide Crusaders to big win over Sharks
By AFP, 28 Mar 2011
- Tagged:
- Crusaders, Dan Carter, Rugby Union, Sharks, Sonny Bill Williams, Super Rugby, Twickenham
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Dan Carter and Sonny Bill Williams inspired the Crusaders to a 44-28 win over the Sharks in an historic Super Rugby fixture at Twickenham on Sunday.
In the first Super Rugby game played in the northern hemisphere, Carter scored 22 points including a try before limping off in the 62nd minute, while Williams showed European fans what they can expect in the World Cup by displaying his full range of offloading and ball-running skills.
The Crusaders scored five tries to four from the Sharks for their fourth win of the campaign, and quelled a mini-revival from the South Africans in the second half when they came back from 34-10 down to reduce the gap to just nine points with half an hour left.
But the Crusaders could count the cost of the match with Carter and acting captain Keiran Read both failing to finish the game with Read only lasting until half-time before being injured.
A crowd of 35,094 helped raise fund for the Christchurch earthquake relief effort and the Crusaders treated them to a scintillating display of running rugby in a four-try first half.
Carter and Williams were at the heart of most of the Crusaders’ attacking moves with a Williams offload and a Carter inside ball setting up Sean Maitland.
Williams was the provider again on 21 minutes when his break and pass put Carter over under the posts and Israel Dagg rounded off a sweeping move before Carter’s touchline conversion put the Crusaders 27-10 up.
Carter built on the efforts of his forwards, who gave the Sharks a torrid time in the scrum, and Zac Guildford stretched their lead when he sidestepped Ryan Kankovski and evaded the tackle of Odwa Ndungane to put the Crusaders 24 points in front before the Sharks staged a comeback.
Fly-half Jacques-Louis Potgieter ran through some soft tackling just before the break and further scores from Ndungane and Alistair Hargreaves gave them hope of pulling off a remarkable comeback win.
With Carter off, and Williams lucky to escape a yellow card for a shoulder charge, the Crusaders put the game to bed with Maitland’s second touchdown in the 66th minute.
The Sharks refused to give up and Keegan Daniel chased down opposite number George Whitelock to pull off a try-saving tackle two minutes from time when flanker Whitelock had the line in sight after a 50 metre gallop.
© AFP 2012Recommend this story.
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- Crusaders, Dan Carter, Rugby Union, Sharks, Sonny Bill Williams, Super Rugby, Twickenham
March 28th 2011 @ 9:19am
allblackfan said | March 28th 2011 @ 9:19am | Report comment
If the ARU ever wanted to promote rugby to the greater non-rugby public, this is the game they should have tried to host.
They would’ve filled SFS easily and made a decent dent in the Homebush stadium’s capacity.
What a game!
March 28th 2011 @ 9:24am
Rusty said | March 28th 2011 @ 9:24am | Report comment
I think they did an even better thing with Twickers – there are so many Kiwis and Saffas in London following their teams on Sky but to be able to see them in the flesh while pulling the handle on the UK fruit machine = magic
March 28th 2011 @ 10:24am
Rio Salada said | March 28th 2011 @ 10:24am | Report comment
I’ve never heard Stuart Barnes rhapsodize over anybody as much as he did Carter and SBW. He was saying, listening between his lines, that British rugby can’t put on that kind of running game, and he’s right. But then all that firepower in one club side is pretty special. The Saders could beat a full-strength England. And at Twickenham.
G. Henry, who was in the stands, must have few doubts who his AB 10 and 12 will be. And his wings and FB are pretty clear too, sort of. The ABs’ backs versus the Boks’ forwards in the Tri Nations will be worth staying up for.
BTW – with the RFU contribution the total raised should be around 430,000 NZD.
March 28th 2011 @ 10:30am
katzilla said | March 28th 2011 @ 10:30am | Report comment
Did both teams make a pact to defend at half line speed?
Looked like an exhibition match.
Nice back line moves from the Crusaders, and good power show around the edges from the Sharks.
Some of those Scrums would be a concern though for SA, 2/3 starting Springbok front rowers getting monstered, although that Crusaders pack is pretty much a black tight 5.
And lastly, I think Ma’a Nonu can kiss his starting jersey goodbye, the Canes aren’t going to do him any favours this year.
March 28th 2011 @ 9:02pm
ohtani's jacket said | March 28th 2011 @ 9:02pm | Report comment
It was pretty physical for an exhibition match. I liked the way Steve Walsh reffed this game. He could’ve penalised both sides at numerous rucks, but instead we got a lot of ball in hand rugby. This is the way forward, IMO. Watching a few ’96 tests on the plane recently, I noticed how much the refs used to let slide in years gone by. That and the huge difference in the ball. I honestly think the modern rugby ball has been the single biggest factor in how the game has changed from the beginning of the professional era until now.
March 28th 2011 @ 9:18pm
Sylvester Hyde said | March 28th 2011 @ 9:18pm | Report comment
OJ,
I agree re Walsh. His liberal attitude really contributed to the match quality. If no side is particularly disadvantaged, let it ride I say.
March 28th 2011 @ 11:33am
Wall-Nut said | March 28th 2011 @ 11:33am | Report comment
The game of the year!! What a way to show off Super Rugby. Shame promoting this had limited time.
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March 28th 2011 @ 11:56am
Josh Chandler said | March 28th 2011 @ 11:56am | Report comment
Can SBW get any better? He can and that’s the scary thing, 5 games in his first super rugby year and his opponents can’t go near him, NZ world cup win by a long way with him in the team
March 29th 2011 @ 9:14am
Shane said | March 29th 2011 @ 9:14am | Report comment
Notice SBW packing down at number 6 in a late scrum? He did seem to be able to do anything in that game…
March 28th 2011 @ 12:09pm
lACHIE said | March 28th 2011 @ 12:09pm | Report comment
both teams contributed to a great game-thought Todd looked the future when richie goes ,SBW is getting better and better but he needs to throw the league shoulder charge and fast-its unaceptable. Thought the beast,and Alberts had wonderful games as well-must have made the pomms more than a little nervous….
March 28th 2011 @ 5:31pm
Moaman said | March 28th 2011 @ 5:31pm | Report comment
Kept looking for Ben S in the crowd with his binoculars
Got up at 4a.m for a variety of reasons-(nostalgia,to mark an historic occasion,and haven’t got mi-sky)-and was well pleased I did.Fabulous 1st half,particularly. Thought the Sharks were fantastic with the atitude they brought from the outset and the never-say-die effort that took the game to the wire.Crusaders untouchable first half hour then suffered,probably because the lead was too great at 34-10,for them to sustain their intensity.Compare this game to the insipid fare served up by the Brumbies/Waratahs.And how about that scrum?!? Nice to see very few scrum restarts too….
March 28th 2011 @ 9:14pm
Ben S said | March 28th 2011 @ 9:14pm | Report comment
Haha. I’ve still got a headache from using those things.
Was a really enjoyable game. Shame about the crowd though. Not many people attended.
March 28th 2011 @ 9:51pm
CizzyRascal said | March 28th 2011 @ 9:51pm | Report comment
35,000 was a decent number given the short time that was given to prepare and promote the game.
I think if this had been given a month, you would have seen 55,000 plus.
March 28th 2011 @ 10:02pm
Ben S said | March 28th 2011 @ 10:02pm | Report comment
It was an historic occasion, with some wonderful players on show. Frankly, I think 35’000 is pretty low. The initial allocation of tickets went very, very quickly, but there wasn’t a secondary surge.
March 28th 2011 @ 10:23pm
CizzyRascal said | March 28th 2011 @ 10:23pm | Report comment
But as has been said, there was only a short time to promote it. With greater time behind it, they could have gotten more South African expats and a lot more neutrals. London isn’t exactly the cheapest place to get to on a spur of the moment decision. It needs planning.
March 28th 2011 @ 10:40pm
Ben S said | March 28th 2011 @ 10:40pm | Report comment
It was hardly done overnight. That the initial allocation of tickets went so quickly suggests that enough people knew about the event. The place was full of Kiwis and Saffers. It was the London/England crowd that was in the minority.
March 28th 2011 @ 5:33pm
German rugbyfan said | March 28th 2011 @ 5:33pm | Report comment
Southern hemisphere rugby are light years ahead of northern hemisphere rugby. It was a very good game to watch, thank god i was in town. The Crusaders played effortless with style and flair, nothing i seen before. The Sharks didnt give up either, they stayed in there and that forward power were awesome. Plus both teams kept the ball in hand which were great to watch.
You guys in the south are spoilt with amazing talent. Il come down to watch the world cup, probably will support the boks. Cant wait……
March 28th 2011 @ 5:42pm
Moaman said | March 28th 2011 @ 5:42pm | Report comment
I liked your comments GERMANRUGBYFAN until you said “probably will support the boks. Cant wait……”
March 28th 2011 @ 6:03pm
katzilla said | March 28th 2011 @ 6:03pm | Report comment
New Zealand has the best Schnitzel outside of Dusseldorf! The Lowenbrau is not so good though.
Enjoy!
March 29th 2011 @ 8:49am
PastHisBest said | March 29th 2011 @ 8:49am | Report comment
The pork knuckle is Dusseldorf is better than the schnitz Kat.
March 28th 2011 @ 7:44pm
JF said | March 28th 2011 @ 7:44pm | Report comment
What a cracking contest. Seemed to have that Heineken Cup semi-final atmosphere, two high quality teams playing at a superb Rugby venue, a real ‘event’ atmosphere.
March 28th 2011 @ 8:19pm
Steve Smith said | March 28th 2011 @ 8:19pm | Report comment
Are the All Blacks about to repeat history later this year? http://j.mp/h9OfDj
March 29th 2011 @ 12:12am
Ai Rui Sheng said | March 29th 2011 @ 12:12am | Report comment
Win or lose history will repeat. Lol.
March 29th 2011 @ 6:39am
Moaman said | March 29th 2011 @ 6:39am | Report comment