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Yet again the Crusaders look inevitable. The Scott Robertson era seems to be coming to an end with a seventh straight Super Rugby title after his team chewed up and spat out the Blues 52-15 in Christchurch.
If the Blues are ever searching for a new team song they should look no further than countrymen Split Enz. I see red? Over and over again, year after year – as Richie Mo’unga drove his team forward and the team’s stellar outside backs overwhelmed their not too shabby on paper opponents.
The Blues were overwhelmed in the breakdown as well. While Beauden Barrett was totally outplayed by his Test rival Mo’unga, his brother Scott was a warrior in the tight.
Mo’unga scored 22 points as the Crusaders racked up a record total in a finals match – topping the 49 they scored just a week ago against the Drua.
Steve Hansen bemoaned a lack of Super Rugby spectacle earlier in this day. It wasn’t a close game but at least, from an Australian perspective, it was nice to see a Kiwi team get absolutely flogged for once.
The 13-time champion Crusaders now have a 29-0 playoff record in Christchurch, have won 18 of their last 19 matchups against the Blues, and 16 of the previous 17 in Christchurch.
Incredibly it was their 15th consecutive playoff win against any opposition in Super Rugby knockouts. In five of the last seven they’ve held their opponents to under 10 points.
The Brumbies or Chiefs, who meet Saturday for a chance to face the Crusaders next week, will need to become the first team since the Lions in 2016 to beat them in a final if they’re to prevent Robertson’s perfect farewell as he heads off to the All Blacks, alongside Friday’s beaten coach Leon MacDonald.
Richie Mo’ungad. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
The Blues were never in it. Their first error came within a minute and it was ruthlessly exposed.
All Black Rieko Ioane was playing his 100th game for the Blues and could not have had a worse start to his forgettable milestone match.
It was his carelessness inside the first minute that led to the opening score. Dallas McLeod drilled a 50-22 and the Crusaders were over on two minutes when Richie Mo’unga spun a cut out pass to Braydon Ennor and he ran through a gap for an easy touch down.
Mo’unga knocked over the conversion and added a ninth minute penalty after an incisive chip. Worse was to follow in quick time for the Blues as another clinical backline move had the visitors stretched and gasping and Leicester Fainga’anuku just had to gather in a bullet pass and stroll across untouched.
Both early tries were made all the easier thanks to poor defensive reads from Mark Telea, a player who has lit up the competition with his explosive attack but was found wanting defensively. He wasn’t the only one though.
Mo’unga showed he was human by banging his conversion attempt into an upright but the pressure was relentless and the Blues were battling to gain a foothold, pressured into errors whenever they were able to get some decent field position.
With just 17 minutes gone the Blues had committed five handling errors and the Crusaders accepted the gifts with predictable ruthlessness.
There were mere glimpses of hope for the Blues. It took 22 minutes for Caleb Clarke’s first chance to show a clean pair of heels but he was gathered in and the Crusaders unleashed a ferocious counter ruck.
Beauden Barrett, whose form has dipped this season, kicked a penalty to make the deficit 18-3. You got the sense he went for the poles to afford his teammates a lungful of air.
It wasn’t enough. The Crusaders were coming in waves. Fainga’anuku just failed to haul in a kick for a second but it felt a matter of time and of course it was. Rieko Ioane and Clarke got a defensive read wrong and Will Jordan screamed onto a short pass from Ennor and through the gate for a try under the posts.
The Blues lost No.8 Hoskins Sotutu to a yellow card in the 38th minute and the Blues paid the price as Codie Taylor drove over to take the score to 32-3 at the break.
“They’re just shellshocked. Right from the get go, the intensity, the skill level, and then the finishing capabilities of the Crusaders….” said former All Black Mils Muliaina on the halftime show. “They’ve sped the game up, shown plenty of skill factor and X factor as well.
“Theyve been really cynical about the way they’ve gone about it. It almost seems like the Blues have come out there and said we’re gonna chuck everything at them but it’s individualistic which is why the Crusaders have been able to put real pressure on them.”
The Blues were rocked by the Crusaders’ intensity on both sides of the ball.
“The breakdown has been unbelievable,” said former All Black Israel Dagg. “They have been so certain. They’ve been confident, they’re not over committing with numbers, they’re sending the right numbers in and it allows them to play their game.
“Will Jordan, Richie Mo’unga pop out the back. They pop out late and they can create a bit of difference there. That’s when they’re very very dangerous, but they’re really decisive particularly the break down.”
The Blues, he said, “look indecisive. They look like they don’t know what they’re doing. I think they’ve been told they don’t want to kick. They need to find some certainty some clarity and I’m sure there’ll be speaking about that at halftime.”
The Blues needed a second half miracle, but any hint of one was swept away within seven minutes.
Fainga’anuku, who has caused consternation in NZ rugby circles with his decision to chase euros with Toulon next season instead of sticking around in Super Rugby, scored a stunning solo try. Might he be the man to end the Kiwis’ staunch refusal to pick overseas players for the All Blacks?
Soon after Robertson gave Fainga’anuku an early mark – the winger walking off slowly to soak up a deserved standing ovation.
There was a consolation try to Beauden Barrett but it was cold comfort. This game showed a huge form gulf between he and Mo’unga, who put Fergus Burke over with a peach of a pass.
“This what he does,” said Robertson. “He just loves these occasions.”
The Crusaders opted to finish with 14 players after alate injury and the Blues grabbed a try after the siren to Clarke. Barrett’s last action in Super Rugby, with a Japan move upcoming, was a sweet conversion. But too little, too late.