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The Crusaders are through to the Super Rugby grand final after defeating the Sharks in Christchurch.
They will travel to face the Waratahs next week to decide who will be crowned champion of the 2014 Super Rugby season.
FINAL SCORE:
Crusaders 38
Sharks 6
The Crusaders host the Sharks in a battle for a spot in the Super Rugby final. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 3:30pm AEDT.
After 110 games this season, there are just 3 to go.
Over 5,800 points were scored, including over 540 tries. Most pundits do not expect the try count to tick over too much for this battle, due to the conservative nature of finals rugby.
The Sharks are also a low try scoring team, crossing over just once more than the bottom scorer of the season, the Bulls.
The Crusaders scored 36 tries. They will face the second-best defensive team this season, conceding one more try than the Waratahs 24. They hosted the Durbanites in Christchurch only two months ago, when the Sharks conceded one red card and yellow card. Despite this, they scored three tries to Crusaders’ one.
Both teams will try their best to work past the opposing pack and into the 10/12 channel, especially as the game starts to open up. The flyhalves in both teams contribute highest tackle misses, along with the Crusaders’ scrumhalf Andrew Ellis.
Set piece will be a pitched battle. One of the interesting match-ups is the 19-year-old destroyer Thomas du Toit at loosehead prop against 57 capped All-Black Owen Franks at tighthead.
If the Sharks get their way, they will keep the ball away from dangermen like Brisbane’s Nudgee boy Nemani Nadolo, who has almost scored as many tries as Isreal Folau this season.
This is also an opportunity for penalties. The Sharks are one of the offside penalty champions of the competition. The Crusaders have a better discipline except for not rolling away.
The backrow clash will be epic! Richie McCaw, Matt Todd and IRB Player of the Year Kieren Read will take on Marcell Coetzee, Ryan Kanwoski and Jordan Taufua’s ‘best friend’ Jean Deysel.
(Taufua was stamped on by Deysel, when Taufua was holding onto Deysel’s leg without the ball.)
The Crusaders would have studied last week’s game, with attention on the Highlanders numerous runs through the Shark’s midfield. As the Sharks concede the highest turnovers in the competition, the Crusaders will look forward to scoring points during broken play.
The Sharks’ most dangerous weapon is not on-field – Jake White. White is a winner. He knows how to get teams to championships, and he knows how to win big games.
All the formulas, statistics and analysis go out the window come Championship time. Let’s play rugby!
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.