The Crusaders have beaten the Sunwolves 33-11 in a wet and windy Christchurch in a match that confirmed what we all knew already: The Crusaders were always going to be too good, the Sunwolves would try hard, make it difficult, but never really threaten.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Crusaders 33
Sunwolves 11
The Crusaders take on the Sunwolves on Saturday evening in Christchurch for Round 10 of Super Rugby in what could be a totally predictable game – or the upset of the season. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 5:35pm AEST.
Despite the apparent mismatch between teams placed 15th and 4th, there are some interesting stories wrapped up with this game.
For the Crusaders there is the ongoing battle in a competitive Kiwi conference. With two losses already this season to the Canes and Highlanders, the Crusaders know that they are in a real fight this season to come out on top.
Currently the Crusaders are in second place in the conference but the Chiefs are just three points behind and the Highlanders just five with a game in hand.
Previously this match had been earmarked as the return of Kieran Read after injury but news this week has put that idea on ice.
The team are going to give him more time and arguably he won’t be seen in a Crusaders shirt until after the mid-season test break.
Meanwhile, the Crusaders will welcome back two of Read’s All Black team mates as both Dagg and Franks make their returns and both will be eager to get back into some form as quickly as possible with both crucial Super Rugby games and tests versus the French on the horizon.
Obviously this isn’t good news for the Sunwolves. This season they’ve been conceding an average of over 40 points a game and far too often these points have come as a result of very poor tackling.
Being outplayed by better players is one thing – sliding off tackles time and time again is really disappointing.
The tourists have made five changes for this game with the most exciting/alarming (delete as appropriate) coming in the halves where there is a brand new combination between Parker and Tanaka.
The two of them are going to have to work very hard to keep some sort of control in this game. It’s very likely that their forwards will be struggling to compete against the home side so the No.9 and No.10 are going to have to deal with limited ball and when they do get their hands on it, it’s probably going to be off the back of a pack going backwards and struggling to get over the advantage line.
Prediction
It’s hard to see anything else but a Crusaders win here, and a big one at that. It will be interesting to see if the Sunwolves have tightened up on their tackling technique and what their new halves pairing can make happen together but other than these points, the main aim for the Sunwolves will be keep the losing margin vaguely respectable.
Crusaders to win by 25.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 5:35pm AEST on Saturday.
Oliver Matthews
Expert
Match Report The Crusaders have beaten the Sunwolves 33-11 in a wet and windy Christchurch in a match that confirmed what we all knew already: The Crusaders were always going to be too good The Sunwolves would try hard, make it difficult but never really threaten While the game might not have thrown up too many surprises, there were a few interesting talking points. It was great to see Dagg and Franks back on the field and both looked good. There’s still more for them to do to get back into peak performance and it was a tough game for Dagg to really get into but it would have put a smile on the faces of the Crusaders fans to see them both back playing. While it wasn’t an all out try fest, the weather forced the Crusaders to have to work much harder for their scores. It took them a while to adjust to the conditions but they kept at it and gradually wore down the Sunwolves. That was fine for today but against better opposition the Crusaders are going to need to learn to adapt quicker. For the Sunwolves there’s the good and the bad. From the good side they have clearly worked hard on their defence. In the past few weeks they have been missing and sliding off too many tackles and the scorelines have looked ugly as a result. Today though their mentality and technique was much better and they only missed 11 from well over a hundred tackles. Unfortunately they still lack the real ability to unlock the opposition defence. Their strength of being exciting in open play was not going to help today as the weather meant the game was much tighter throughout. They kept working hard in attack and had some long periods of possession but they couldn’t seem to create too many genuine opportunities to score. Did we learn too much from this game that we didn’t already know? Not really but it was good to see the Sunwolves working so hard to improve their defence. The Crusaders will be glad to have picked up the full points potential from this game and get back to the top of the Kiwi conference. They will have harder games and better opponents but you’ve got to win these ones too. Next week will be a key test - playing the Brumbies at home wont be a walk over. The Sunwolves can be proud of their performance today but sadly there aren’t any points for pride and they will continue to struggle in this tournament. Their road trip continues against the Canes next week and if the weather is better than their new defence will be really tested.
Oliver Matthews
Expert
Full Time 80' - The Crusaders have beaten the Sunwolves by a decent margin 33-11 in a wet and uninspiring game in Christchurch. The Crusaders were never really under pressure but did have some significant periods where they had to work hard in defence to keep out the valiant Sunwolves. There was a 30 minute period in the game where the Crusaders were finding it hard to put points together and were actually losing that period of the game 0-11 but despite this the Sunwolves never looked like they would overcome the home side. Late in the second half the Crusaders started to pull away as they found ways to break down the tiring Sunwolves defence and a last second try helped stretch the winning margin to a decent standard. Full match report to come. Crusaders: 33 Sunwolves: 11
Lara
Guest
Impressed with Sunwolves tonight, may cause some upsets later on in the comp . Still a work in progress, but skill level is there and tackled well tonight. Sanders are a tough nut to crack at home and those conditions with hail and lightning would not be normal for visiting teams.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Full credit to Sunwolves. Played the full 80 minutes. But they still miss out badly in some basics. The effort is this there. As said, could Lappies be in Springboks contention? He is impressive.Lead from the front as captain today also. Or will Japan poach him?
Oliver Matthews
Expert
Conversion 80' - Conversion is successful and the final whistle is blown. Crusaders: 33 Sunwolves: 11
Oliver Matthews
Expert
Try 79' - But the loose play opens things up for the Crusaders and the deubtant Stratton is able to take full advantage. The Crusaders attack down the right and with some neat inter passing Stratton is able to have some space to pull away and score just moments after coming on to make his debut. Crusaders: 31 Sunwolves: 11
Oliver Matthews
Expert
79' - Sunwolves still working hard - they can take a lot from this performance, especially the improvement in tackles being missed. The scrum is won by Sunwolves and they clear. Some poor passing from Crusaders and they are now all the way back on half way but they have the ball again. Crusaders: 26 Sunwolves: 11
Oliver Matthews
Expert
78' - Crusaders have the ball and are 5m out but then knock on as they are popping the ball close to the ruck and it'll be a Sunwolves scrum. Crusaders: 26 Sunwolves: 11
Oliver Matthews
Expert
Penalty 77' - Penalty to Crusaders - 5 metres out from the line and they go for touch. Crusaders: 26 Sunwolves: 11
Oliver Matthews
Expert
76' - Good take at the line out and the Crusaders have the ball as the maul goes down. They keep crashing into the Sunwolves but they will not let them through. Eventually there is a knock on from the Crusaders but the ref has asked the TMO to have a look a a shoulder hit. Crusaders: 26 Sunwolves: 11
Cantab
Guest
Hoping for more, but i’d Take a bonus point win every day of the week.
Oliver Matthews
Expert
Penalty 75' - Crusaders have a line out about 10 metres out from the Sunwolves line. Less than 5 minutes left - can the Crusaders end well? Crusaders: 26 Sunwolves: 11
Oliver Matthews
Expert
Penalty 54' - 23 phases and no distance gained for a while but they have the penalty. Crusaders: 26 Sunwolves: 11
Oliver Matthews
Expert
54' - Crusaders making good gains - up to the 22 now and pulling the defence from one side to the other. Surely the gap will be found soon? Sunwolves working hard in defence - a real test for them here. Crusaders: 26 Sunwolves: 11
Oliver Matthews
Expert
73' - Sunwolves win the line out and clear but the ball is still in and the Crusaders come again - they will want at least one more try before the end of this one. They are about 30m out and beginning to knock the defenders back in contact, gaining ground with each phase. Crusaders: 26 Sunwolves: 11
Oliver Matthews
Expert
72' - Eventually the Sunwolves make a mistake though - a knock on as the wet ball is too much to handle. Has been a persistent problem for the Sunwolves tonight. Crusaders have a scrum and Delany puts in a great kick that is in behind the Sunwolves and dribbles out into touch well inside the Sunwolves half. Crusaders: 26 Sunwolves: 11
Oliver Matthews
Expert
69' - Sunwolves line out inside the Crusaders 22 - does the come back start here?? They win their line out and are keeping possession as they go through the phases but are not making any ground. Crusaders: 26 Sunwolves: 11
Oliver Matthews
Expert
Penalty 68' - Scrum in the middle of the field for the Crusaders - good attacking opportunity here. Solid scrum from the home side and they look to build some pressure. But just as they are going through the phases they give away the penalty at the breakdown for not releasing. Crusaders: 26 Sunwolves: 11
Oliver Matthews
Expert
64' - Some aerial ping pong and the Sunwolves have the best of it as they compete in the air and Tupou takes a great catch to steal the ball from the Crusaders and they could score here. But they just don't have the pace and get caught by the defenders just metres from the line. A great chance there has gone begging. Crusaders: 26 Sunwolves: 11
Oliver Matthews
Expert
63' - Deep kick off from the Sunwolves and Crusaders take it cleanly and force the Sunwolves back to half way with a kick. Crusaders: 26 Sunwolves: 11