Crusaders
39
Match Complete
Chiefs
17
| 73 |  | D. McKenzie | ||
| 72 |  | E. Nanai-Seturo | ||
| F. Burke | | 69 | ||
| M. Dunshea | | 68 | ||
| R. Mo'unga | | 63 | ||
| W. Douglas | | 62 | ||
| R. Mo'unga | | 55 | ||
| W. Jordan | | 54 | ||
| 43 | |||
| R. Mo'unga |  | 31 | ||
| R. Mo'unga | | 26 | ||
| L. Fainga'anuku | | 15 | ||
| 8 | | D. McKenzie | ||
| 3 | | D. McKenzie | ||
| 1 | | D. McKenzie |
| 5 | Tries | 2 | ||
| 3 | Conversions | 2 | ||
| 2 | Penalty Goals | 1 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
An unbeaten Crusaders side will welcome a Chiefs side that hasn’t won a Super Rugby Aotearoa game yet this season… or last season. The Chiefs will be keen to build on the strong opening to their last game and turn that into an 80-minute performance. But will the ruthless Crusaders let them? Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of what promises to be a thrilling match starting from 5:00 pm AEDT.
Scott Robertson has made a few changes to his line-up for this match and the Chiefs will be facing eight starting All Blacks – not exactly ideal for a team that is hoping to get its first win in the competition since 2019.
These changes will see George Bower join the front row replacing Joe Moody while Sione Havili Talitui will replace Ethan Blackadder in the back row. In the backs, Will Jordan is back in the starting line-up and David Havili will move from his usual fullback position to the centres.
Clayton McMillan has made a number of changes to his Chiefs side too as they desperately seek a victory in the hardest match-up in Super Rugby. Amongst these changes, debutant Josh Lord will have a baptism of fire in the second row as he goes up against one of the best lock pairings in world rugby, let alone the competition.
Elsewhere within the Chiefs starting line-up, Quinn Tupaea starts in the centres while Angus Ta’avao, Tupou Vaa’i and Mitchell Brown have all got a chance to start in the pack.
McMillan will hope that the mixture of youth and experience can challenge the Crusaders, but for the Chiefs, two questions matter more than anything.
Firstly, can their pack compete with the home side to set a good foundation for the rest of their team? Secondly, can Bryn Gatland shake off a poor game from last week to go up against the form flyhalf in the world?
As if this wasn’t a challenging enough game for the Chiefs, they have benched the experienced Anton Lienert-Brown in the hope, you would assume, that when he comes on the game is close. Time will tell.
Prediction
The Chiefs have some inspiring players in the likes of Sam Cane and Damian McKenzie but it would have to be one hell of an inspiring display for the visitors to pull this one out of the bag.
Crusaders by 20.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of what promises to be a thrilling match starting from 5:00 pm AEDT.
Game information
Kick-off: 5:05pm (AEDT)
Venue: Orangetheory Stadium
Live stream: Stan Sport
Betting: Crusaders $1.13, Chiefs $5.90 (odds via PlayUp)
Teams
Crusaders
Will Jordan, Sevu Reece, Jack Goodhue, David Havili (vc), Leicester Fainga’anuku, Richie Mo’unga, Mitchell Drummond, Cullen Grace, Tom Christie, Sione Havili Talitui, Sam Whitelock, Scott Barrett (c), Michael Alaalatoa, Codie Taylor, George Bower
Reserves: Brodie McAlister, Joe Moody, Fletcher Newell, Mitchell Dunshea, Whetukamokamo Douglas, Bryn Hall, Fergus Burke, Dallas McLeod
Chiefs
Damian McKenzie, Shaun Stevenson, Sean Wainui, Quinn Tupaea, Etene Nanai-Seturo, Bryn Gatland, Brad Weber (cc), Luke Jacobson, Sam Cane (cc), Mitchell Brown, Josh Lord, Tupou Vaa’i, Angus Ta’avao, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Reuben O’Neill
Reserves: Bradley Slater, Aidan Ross, Sione Mafileo, Naitoa Ah Kuoi, Kaylum Boshier, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, Anton Lienert-Brown, Chase Tiatia
Coker
Roar Rookie
Or when McLeod was taken out off the ball (by TTT?) when in position to score. Would have been an immediate yellow, but the officiating crew seemed to succumb to a fit of blindness.
Coker
Roar Rookie
No it didn't. It was a marginal call that may or may not have been right which made no difference to the result. Calm down...
Jimbo
Roar Rookie
Not a try. Clearly propelled himself and rolled it over.
Jimbo
Roar Rookie
About as bad as McKenzies try. Propelled himself from his knee and rolled the ball from being short. All the Crusader haters ignore this decision though.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Wow, your Saders bias is pretty pathetic. If that call had been against the ABs we would have heard you going on about it for years (no matter how big the ABs would have lost when the fat lady sings). And now all of a sudden teams don't get more tired defending with 14 men? Yeah right. Playing without a scrumhalf is easy? Okay, tells me all I need to know about your "knowledge of the game". It was a huge call that killed the game.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
No, it didn’t ‘kill’ the game. Quick fact check - Away against the crusaders - was always the case, you can’t use that as an excuse, it has nothing to do with this call. It wasn’t the ‘middle’ of the second half, it happened 3mins into the half, by the time Weber came back there was still 27mins to go and they were only 8 behind. As for defending a man down.. it was Weber who got sent... the smallest guy on the field (and that includes DMac), it’s hardly like they got tired out covering for him. And how much play time actually occurred while he was off? Not much, that’s how much. I get you want to make this call a big thing, and it was a tough call, but in how I view ‘killing off the game’, this isn’t it. Almost half an hour to go and only 8 behind? And the game was over?!?
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
And if my auntie had balls... You really lack understanding of the finer details of the game.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
chiefs atm are like the harlem globetrotters – just playing without structure and then blaming it on others When did Harlem Globetrotters lose a game? :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
"Only eight points behind..." And defending with a man down, away against the Saders, in the middle of the second half, helps the Chiefs in the last 20 minutes? Did they fill up their tanks? Come on Paulo, you know better than this. Not in any way do I say the Chiefs would have won if that card and penalty try did not happen and we all know the Saders are a better team than the Chiefs. But the contest was over after that shocking call from the TMO.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Not saying it didn’t help, but it didn’t kill the game. Chiefs were only 8pts behind at the end of the card.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Most def killed the game. Playing with a man down for ten minutes (and an extra seven points to catch up) did not help the Chiefs one bit. But it sure helped the Saders.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
So you do know the TMO gets different feeds though too, eh?
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Totally, all the line calls went the Crusaders way. Like when DMac rolled the ball over for the first try it was ruled a knock on or when Reece threw the forward pass for Drummond to score they didn’t call it back...
Paulo
Roar Rookie
It didn’t ‘effectively’ kill the game though, the scoreline shows there was way more in it than that call. Yes it did result in 7pts and a card, but it wasn’t like the Crusaders ran away with it for next 10mins. I don’t think they scored at all during that time.
CUW
Roar Rookie
well chiefs were lucky not to get a card for constant penalties inside the 22m they got a warning in first half but nothing happed after that in gallagher they give yellows after a warning - not in new zealand maybe the ref thought the penalty try yellow was enuf :laughing:
CUW
Roar Rookie
no it did not kill the game - crusaders did not score while webber was off mark that 7 off and still its a 15 point gap :laughing:
CUW
Roar Rookie
that was a crap interview by Webber. maybe he forgot the idiot who decided to take a scrum instead of a 22 dropout and promptly got hmmered !!! it was stupid comments as chiefs infact defended well the red maul!!! but then to me it epitomises the problem with chiefs - the other teams are to be blamed for their losses - coz they play robot rugger and chiefs are playing real rugger !!! duh lucky no saffa teams are there - otherwise the chiefs will see scrum smashes in their dreams :P chiefs defence is good - but their set piece is crrap - and their midfield is crap too i mean how many times did u hear the name wainui in that first half - no wonder he was replaced by alb but then how stupid was alb running out of the defence when only 14 was there? i mean he is a test player ffs !!! chiefs atm are like the harlem globetrotters - just playing without structure and then blaming it on others :laughing:
Paul D
Roar Rookie
The “knocked out of the hands” before the penalty try was pretty abysmal. I didn’t see all the game, but it seems the result was beyond doubt anyway.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
On the first angle, it did look like it came off Weber's arm. But after the call was made they showed a new angle where it was clear that Weber hit Mo'unga's arm/hand. That is the reason why lots of people are upset. And it was a huge call too, effectively killed the game.
Oblonsky’s Other Pun
Guest
Shows how difficult it is for referees to interpret these things. It did look to me like the ball came off Weber’s arm, at least based on the first angle.