- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Super Rugby front-runners the Crusaders did what everyone expected tonight, beating the Rebels 41-19 in what was a very entertaining match in Melbourne.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Crusaders 41
Rebels 19
It’s hard to know where to start with tonight’s game in Melbourne between the Rebels and the Crusaders. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog from 7:45pm AEST.
The Rebels are living through the season from hell while the Crusaders, after a couple of close shaves in the early rounds, are flying high as the only unbeaten side left in Super Rugby.
It is impossible to imagine anybody tipping that run to come to an end tonight, coach Scott Robertson has his team ticking over far too smoothly to be troubled by a Rebels side which is still struggling to field consistent combinations from week to week, due to a high injury toll in their squad.
The team this week duly has five changes from last weeks’ run on side, but the side has a distinctly stronger feel to it, captain Nic Stirzaker, Sefa Naivalu and Colby Fainga’a among the inclusions.
Coach Tony McGahan happily noted this week that the coaching panel, for one of the few times this season, enjoyed some robust discussion about selection.
Local fans will at least get a taste of what might have been, with a loose forward combination of Fainga’a, Amanaki Mafi and Sean McMahon, complemented by Lopeti Timani at lock, appealing as one of the strongest in the Australian conference.
[latest_videos_strip category=”rugby” name=”Rugby”]
The Crusaders enjoy the luxury of replacing their whole starting front row, although the selection of Wyatt Crockett, Ben Funnell and Michael Ala’alatoa can hardly be considered second rate!
The backline looks particularly strong, Israel Dagg returning this week from injury, sending the impressive George Bridge to the bench.
This match provides another opportunity for impressive flyhalf Richie Mo’unga to continue his rise up the New Zealand pecking order; he looks to be a beautifully balanced player, with impressive goal kicking ability as well.
It may surprise some people to learn that the Rebels have a reasonable head to head record against the Crusaders – two wins from five matches – although most pundits will point to last years’ result, a thumping 85-26 win to the Crusaders in Christchurch, as a more reliable pointer to tonight’s result.
Prediction
No prizes for picking a Crusaders win tonight. As for the margin, expect the Rebels to put up a decent fight, to match the fighting words of owner Andrew Cox last week, although they won’t have the firepower to match the ladder leaders over the whole 80 minutes.
Crusaders by 28
Join The Roar from 7:45pm AEST for pre-match discussion, live scores and commentary, and debates.