Former All Blacks fullback Israel Dagg has marked his return to Super Rugby in style, scoring twice for the Crusaders as they over-ran the Jaguares 32-15 in Christchurch.
Back for his first Super Rugby match of the season, seven months after suffering a serious shoulder injury, Dagg crossed for a try in each half on Friday as the Crusaders racked up their sixth win from seven matches.
First-half tries to Ryan Crotty, Dagg and Richie Mo’unga gave the Crusaders 22-3 halftime lead, and they ran in two more in the second spell to secure their third bonus point win of the season.
The Crusaders showed the same clinical finishing that has featured in their past five wins, mixing patience with bamboozling pace and accurate passing to run rings around the Jaguares in the first half.
In his 100th Super Rugby game, Crotty was a key figure with his pace, offloading and ability to straighten the attack.
Dagg was no less impressive – his quick hands and feet featured in the Crusaders’ first try as he broke the Jaguares’ line then found halfback Andrew Ellis on the inside for a clear run to the line.
The visitors’ indiscipline cost them a player after 23 minutes. Joaquin Tuculet earned a yellow card after killing the ball in his tackle on Johnny McNicholl just centimetres short of the line.
In his absence, the Crusaders scored twice. Dagg crossed for his first then Mo’unga ripped the ball from centre Jeronimo de la Fuente in the tackle for the Crusaders’ third.
The Jaguares struggled to hold on to the ball long enough to build any sort of pressure. Their first half was littered by missed tackles, a pedestrian and predictable attack, and an aimless kicking game.
Things improved somewhat for the visitors in the second spell. No.8 Facundo Isa hared down the blindside of an attacking lineout maul to narrow the gap with a hard-earned try.
But the Crusaders continued to dominate. Skipper Kieran Read and Dagg scored to extend the lead before inside centre Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias’s kick and chase earned the Jaguares a late consolation try.
WEST
Roar Guru
Honestly it doesn't matter now. Games over! The Crusaders won and the Jaguars... oh wait thats Jaguareseesss...sserrre sss yeah, you know the pumas!! The main thing was the Crusaders won. The Crusaders looked sloppy in some stages but they also looked like old school Crusaders...almost a flashback of 98-2000. Jaguares are a terrible team to play against. Teams will struggle to get into their game until you run them around the field to ware their enthusiasm out. The Crusaders entire backline is getting more involved with their forwards, taken awhile to see that part of their game flowing again. Good news for cantabrians anyway.
WEST
Roar Guru
Hurricanes vs Chiefs is an All Black trial match. Cruden vs Barrett will be interesting, as a matter of fact every match up in this game will be interesting. Hurricanes are starting to fire at the right time, but unfortunately for them so are the Chiefs.
Deano
Guest
There was nothing wrong with either of the first two tries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdxrGUcTxC8
CUW
Guest
maybe he has hit the gym to strengthen the upper body after shoulder surgery. one good thing i saw is he has recovered the pace - when he played with the calf injury last season , he had half the pace. the selling point of dagg, is his ability to hit the line at pace and upset a defensive line. if he has no pace then it has no impact.
CUW
Guest
1/2 penny is a big loss for them. in fact the fullback / wales seems to be curssed - williams injured , anscombe injured (maybe both are back now , but for how long?)
CUW
Guest
i think a lot of people are still confused with the fwd pass thngy. the way i understand the Law - its the hands that have to move in a backward direction. this may be due to simple physics - a moving person throwing something sideways , it will also move forward. this is becoz the earth's atmosphere. on the other hand if u throw something in the moon / space , it will travell in a straight line over a short distance (even in space it has been proven that things will end up in curved trajectories) i noticed some of the passes from bryn hall for eg, who was more or less from a standing start - were quite flat. some looked forrward from crowds reactions - but not called. and there were many passes that had the crowd gasping during the week end , but very few were called as fwd. tv is never a good source to call them becoz the camera does not move along the tochline and stay with the play. the ball did move fwd but joubert was happy the pass was backwards :)
ClarkeG
Guest
And his kicking game.
ClarkeG
Guest
I agree Fonotia could easily have been called for obstruction but I would argue against your view of the alleged forward pass on the first try. I assume you are referring to the Crotty to Dagg pass. It may have been forward but my view would be that it is not as obvious as you might think. The angle from which the pass is viewed on the TV coverage will always distort the viewer’s perception. Referee Joubert was in quite a good position in this instance.
Danny
Guest
Maybe the first two tries were suspect but an emphatic Crusaders win was a near certainty. And would have been all the more so if Joubert had kept the same focus on the Jaguares that he had when he pulled out the yellow. But after the yellow he seemed to go soft on the Argies which kept them in the game.
Kuruki
Roar Guru
Yes Harry, while Smith is injured.......lol
Kuruki
Roar Guru
Crusaders backline is starting to take shape nicely but the Chiefs backline is on another level altogether. They have scored more tries then everyone else by a country mile. They have three of the top four try scorers in the comp. I don't know how anyone can look at results thus far and come to the conclusion that anyone is ahead of the Chiefs backline unit and play makers, the evidence points to the contrary.
Shane D
Roar Rookie
Dagg showed two things that stood out for me. 1} his pace when taking the outside break for his 2nd try. Think his quad problems might finally be behind him. 2} his ability to jump in as a first receiver & create. That's a real positive for the crusaders. Good to see a quality player getting back.
Harry Jones
Expert
Dagg, Smith,
Shane D
Roar Rookie
Flaming ref. Making a call & sticking with it. How on earth do we expect games to take 2 hours to get through with that kind of carry on.
Lara
Guest
Nice return, will get better with a few more games under his belt.
Targa
Guest
The chiefs 9 & 10 are very good but still below the Highlanders 9 & 10
Targa
Guest
4 top fullbacks - Smith, Barrett, Mackenzie, Dagg
Shop
Guest
I didn't see the forward pass but the missed blatant obstruction cost the Jags a yellow card in he end which I'd be pretty angry about if I was a coach. Still, the Jaguares were a rabble for most of the first half and deserved to get beat.
Phantom
Roar Rookie
The big difference is at 9 & 10. The chiefs are so superior in that regard
moaman
Roar Guru
Was it my imagination or has Dagg bulked up?