The Crusaders had two major challenges in their quarter-final against the Fijian Drua in Christchurch tonight – win – clearly, but to do so without sustaining any more collateral damage in terms of injury.
They did the first job – they were never seriously challenged in winning 49-8 to progress to a semifinal against the Blues in Christchurch next Friday – but the injury part of the equation was not as straightforward as this result.
The Crusaders played the final 10 minutes of the match with 13 players after injuries for replacement forwards Ethan Blackadder and Zach Gallagher – both of whom left the field with 15 minutes remaining - and the sight of Richie Mo’unga going off with what also appeared to be a leg injury will have filled Scott Robertson with even more angst.
“Hopefully it’s nothing on Ethan, he does not deserve any more injuries,” Robertson told Sky Sport afterwards.
Blackadder, whose 2022 was wrecked by a shoulder injury, has only just returned from a calf problem and played only five minutes off the bench in the second half before limping off.
Mo’unga’s issue did not appear serious – and was not related to an off-the-ball tackle late in the match by Drua wing Selestino Ravutaumada which strangely went unpunished by the match officials – but his importance to this side cannot be over-stated and that also applies to probably only a slightly lesser extent to the All Blacks.
The Crusaders had taken the field without veteran lock Sam Whitelock – who appears at long odds to play any more part in the playoffs due to a recurrence of an Achilles injury - and have already lost two teams’ worth of props.
This seven tries to one result, while not unexpected for the Crusaders given they now boast a 28-0 record for home playoffs matches in this competition, represented revenge for their shock reverse early in the season in Fiji.
As expected, they were far too powerful in the set piece for a team in their second season in Super Rugby (with hooker Codie Taylor scoring two tries from lineout drives within the first five minutes) but it was at the breakdown where they exerted more sustained pressure in the first half.
With Tom Christie a constant menace, along with wing Leicester Fainga’anuku, who did not add to his tally of 11 tries this season (but did everything but), the Drua couldn’t settle.
They already looked a little shellshocked by the enormity of the occasion in front of a large group of loud supporters and had no answer to the structured and formulaic playoffs style the Crusaders excel at at this time of year.
They did have some success – with Ravutaumada scoring a first-half intercept from a Will Jordan pass – but they were shut out after the break even despite the Crusaders’ numerical disadvantage.
Mo’unga was outstanding at times - and extremely physical on defence - with Taylor and Scott Barrett standouts up front, along with Christie.
Fainga'anuku was busy again, while fullback Jordan is still to find his feet after his return from a long-term migraine issue.
In an interview with Sky Sport afterwards, Crusaders captain Barrett mentioned the Crusaders’ resilience in playing the end of the match with 13 men.
And asked whether he was looking forward to playing the Blues in their semifinal, he replied: “s*** yeah.”
Crusaders 49 (Oli Jager, Codie Taylor 2, Sione Havili-Talitui, Scott Barrett, Will Jordan, Will Heinz tries; Richie Mo’unga 6 cons, Fergus Burke con)
Fijian Drua 8 (Selestino Ravutaumada try; Frank Lomani pen)
Halftime: 28-8
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