Crusaders
29
Match Complete
Western Force
21
| 81 |  | I. Prior | ||
| 79 |  | J. Olowofela | ||
| W. Jordan | | 46 | ||
| S. H. Talitui | | 41 | ||
| F. Burke | | 41 | ||
| 32 | | D. Miotti | ||
| 31 | | O. Callan | ||
| W. Douglas | | 27 | ||
| W. Jordan | | 19 | ||
| F. Burke | | 14 | ||
| M. Mataele | | 12 | ||
| 4 | | D. Miotti | ||
| 2 | | T. Pulu |
| 5 | Tries | 3 | ||
| 2 | Conversions | 3 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
The Crusaders are desperately hunting a bonus point against the Western Force to keep their Super Rugby Trans-Tasman hopes alive. Stay up to date with the action on The Roar with live scores from 5:05pm (AEST).
The Crusaders are yet to drop a match in Trans-Tasman so far but, in a competition where bonus points will likely decide who makes the final, bonus points are crucial. So far, they’ve ‘only’ managed two – but they’ve also had the leakiest defence of any New Zealand side by far. They’ll be looking for a much-improved effort against the Force tonight to move into the top two.
The Force won plenty of admirers with their gallant losses in the first fortnight, but the wheels came off with a 43-6 drubbing at the hands of the Hurricanes last week. With the all-conquering Crusaders and ladder-leading Blues ahead of them, the goal will be to reach the end of the season with their dignity intact.
Game information
Kick-off: 5:05pm (AEST)
Venue: Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch
Live stream: Stan Sport
Betting: Crusaders $1.01, Force $19.50 (odds via PlayUp)
Teams
Crusaders
1. Tamaiti Williams, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Michael Alaalatoa. 4. Scott Barrett (c), 5. Mitchell Dunshea, 6. Whetukamokamo Douglas, 7. Sione Havili Talitui, 8. Cullen Grace, 9. Bryn Hall, 10. Fergus Burke, 11. Leicester Fainga’anuku, 12. David Havili, 13. Braydon Ennor, 14. Manasa Mataele, 15. Will Jordan
Reserves: 16. Nathan Vella, 17. Isileli Tu’ungafasi, 18. Oliver Jager, 19. Luke Romano, 20. Tom Sanders, 21. Mitchell Drummond, 22. Dallas McLeod, 23. Josh McKay
Force
1. Tom Robertson, 2. Feleti Kaitu’u, 3. Santiago Medrano, 4. Jeremy Thrush, 5. Sitaleki Timani, 6. Fergus Lee-Warner, 7. Kane Koteka, 8. Ollie Callan, 9. Tomás Cubelli, 10. Domingo Miotti, 11. Richard Kahui, 12. Kyle Godwin (c), 13. Tevita Kuridrani, 14. Toni Pulu, 15. Jake Strachan.
Reserves: 16. Andrew Ready, 17. Angus Wagner, 18. Greg Holmes, 19. Ryan McCauley, 20. Tim Anstee, 21. Ian Prior, 22. Jake McIntyre, 23. Jordan Olowofela
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
Black and Gold is the away strip. Ocean Blue is the home strip.
piru
Roar Rookie
Waratahs just gave up another cricket score so that will be the big story (again).
piru
Roar Rookie
Mate if you can get Stan to go, don't touch it or it will pack up
piru
Roar Rookie
No, crusader wing was in front of the kicker
Woolfe
Roar Rookie
And they have done the maths and realised that there is no point taking 3 point penalty’s against a team that puts 5 or normally 7 points against you.
Woolfe
Roar Rookie
Well that felt like a win to me! Go Force.
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
Nothing "slightest" about that and I'm angry at the Kiwi teams too: it's obvious they've taken their foot off the pedal and are picking up some bad habits as well. Look at all the off the ball incidents this season and going back 10 years. This games seems to be morphing into NFL.
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
Like who? Who else used their arm off the scrum like that?
Bobby
Roar Rookie
The Force always are in the fight. Pleasure to see !
tony
Guest
No think your wrong its compulsory mandated rest time for All Blacks they just chose to do it against the Force
FrancisF
Roar Pro
Nothing spectacular worth a soecial mention in the first try. Its a run-in-the-mill try.
Ex force fan
Guest
Two of our “tries” were also disallowed. Unlucky...
Paulo
Roar Rookie
must be a lag in your comments, I think you meant this for the first Force try?
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Watch the game again with the colour switched off and tell me which team is doing it. You may just find its both...
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Emotional rollercoaster may swing your perception here. Forward out of the hands. Clearly caught upfield from where it was batted on and no where near enough momentum from Kahui to account for that.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Triple Yawn (Game, set, and match)
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Yawn
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Gotta draw the line somewhere...
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Always with a rough finish? Not using a fine enough grain probably.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Ignorance at play Its an AB directive. They didn't have a choice.