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The Crusaders carry their faint hopes of a playoff berth to Auckland, where they meet the Blues. Join The Roar for live scores, commentary and a bit of chat from 5:30pm (AEST).
The Blues have had a poor season, and were pretty much out of finals contention since about the third week.
This being the penultimate round, there’s not much left for the team, save patronising things like retaining a bit of dignity and so on. So, we’ll just leave them to the side for now, like a TV chef does with his prepared ingredients.
This match’s liveliness comes from the Crusaders. They’re beyond winning the New Zealand conference, where they’re currently fourth, they’re eighth overall on 36 points, with the sixth-placed Brumbies on 42.
The maximum point haulage the Crusaders can hope for is 10 – eight points from two wins, plus a bonus point from both games for scoring four tries or more. They’ll be hoping to get the full five in Auckland, before jetting off and doing the same in Canberra next week.
Being eighth, though, means that a bonus point win by the Brumbies in Perth last night (highly likely) and a win by the fifth-placed Chiefs (on 44 points) against the Reds later on tonight (also highly likely) will mean all those dreams are busted.
If that is the case and the most successful Super Rugby province misses out on a finals spot for the first time in yonks, then they at least they can play to retain some of their dignity.
For the home side, who are also missing a few players due to the U20s World Cup, they will be captained by their hooker James Parsons. The Blues will also feature four debutants.
The Crusaders, on the other hand, welcome back Wyatt Crockett, Codie Taylor and Dominic Burke. Ryan Crotty is back, albeit on the bench, as is Sam Whitelock, who still hasn’t fully recovered from the smothering in cotton-wool that SANZAR gave him after the Waratahs game.
Prediction
The Crusaders were rampant in their last game, a great response to their close loss to the Waratahs the week previous. They’ll fill their objectives by beating the Blues with a bonus point.
Crusaders by 10.
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.