Super Rugby play-offs: Chiefs - Crusaders in Hamilton (28/07/2012)

[donmcdazzle]

Chiefs have been their own worst enemy gifting them field position with these unnecessary penalties

[TRF_Darwin]

Chiefs have been their own worst enemy gifting them field position with these unnecessary penalties

That is the only thing keeping the Crusaders in the game at the moment.....

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Try by Crotty.... 17-11!

Chiefs are very sloppy. If they end up losing this, it's because of their lack of discipline.

[austingtir]

Typical chiefs cock up there!

[TRF_Darwin]

Plenty of aggression in the game so far! The Crusaders really needed that late try to get them back into the game, as I felt the game was getting away from them.

Chiefs look by far the more dangerous team - they must have made 4-5 linebreaks, but the Crusaders have really struggled to break the line. I think the Crusaders need to add a bit of variety to their attack, rather than "run side to side and hope a gap appears", as the Chiefs defense is coming up very quick. Sam Whitelock has been the pick of the Crusaders for me. Plenty of standouts for the Chiefs. Retallick has been very efficient, while Messam has been brilliant with ball in hand. Kerr-Barlow has been a real pesk to the Crusaders, while Cruden, SBW, and Robinson all look very dangerous.

The second half should be a cracker!

[TRF_nickdnz]

Looking forward to the second half. I think the Crusader forwards really need to step up a bit more, right now the Chiefs forwards are dominating which gives Cruden the chance for good front foot ball.

[TRF_Darwin]

Crotty has been very impressive so far!

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Cruden makes the gap 6 points again. Only 30 minutes to go.

[TRF_Darwin]

Fruean has shown this match exactly why he shouldn't be in the All Blacks!

[TRF_Ezequiel]

I really feel sad for Kahui. Why did he have to miss out on a season like this?

[donmcdazzle]

If the chiefs lose they have only themselves to blame. Stuffing up set phase and gifting away penalties to keep the crusaders in it.

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Just beat the Crusaders! Please!!!

[donmcdazzle]

Just beat the Crusaders! Please!!!

I feel like there is a certain amount of inevitability about this, Crusaders strangling the chiefs out of the game.

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Carter narrows the gap to 3.

[donmcdazzle]

If I could put money on a crusaders penalty coming up I would

Haha jeez that wasn't predictable or anything!

[donmcdazzle]

3 minutes to go chiefs lock it up! Just sort the scrum out for Pete's sake they really need this

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Only penalties in the second half. Icemn must be loving this

[donmcdazzle]

Awesome defense at the end there, great job chiefs. How good was Messam?! Played all the other loosies off the park

[TRF_Ezequiel]

There it is!!! Chiefs to the final! We will see a new champion this year!!!

Who will it be? Chiefs, Stormers or Sharks???

[dudeabides]

Congrats to the Chiefs, their defense was awesome to the end. If I have any creds left after the South African half of the semi's I'll put it all on the Chiefs in the finale.

[admartian]

Either team would have deserved the win there. But I think the Chiefs more so. Score line absolutely indicative of the play today.

Who would have to win tomorrow in order for the Chiefs to have a home game?

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Sharks win = final in Hamilton
Stormers win = final in Cape Town

[stormer2010]

So whichever way it goes from here we'll have a new 1st time champ. May it be the Stormers!!

[saderista]

Well done Chiefs!

Hard luck Crusaders.

[Ruckyou]

Cheifs outplayed them all across the park , most surprising was Robbie Robinson outplaying Dagg.

[TRF_Ezequiel]

So whichever way it goes from here we'll have a new 1st time champ. May it be the Stormers!!

Sharks deserve it more than the other 2 though. Lost a final 3 times, better point difference than the Chiefs, more tries scored than the Stormers

By the way... The stats for both the Chiefs and Sharks are eeriely similar.

Sharks have 47 tries scored, 31 against, 436 PF, 348 PA and +- of +88
Chiefs have 47 tries scored, 30 against, 444 PF, 358 PA and +- of +86

[Invictus]

And the Chiefs have two (or one) more wins

[welshglory]

Sharks deserve it more than the other 2 though. Lost a final 3 times, better point difference than the Chiefs, more tries scored than the Stormers

By the way... The stats for both the Chiefs and Sharks are eeriely similar.

Sharks have 47 tries scored, 31 against, 436 PF, 348 PA and +- of +88
Chiefs have 47 tries scored, 30 against, 444 PF, 358 PA and +- of +86

Stormers deserve to be champs because

Super Rugby Standing
1	Stormers	South African Conference Leader	66
2	Chiefs	New Zealand Conference Leader	64
3	Reds	Australian Conference Leader	58
4	Crusaders	Wildcard	61
5	Bulls	Wildcard	59
6	Sharks	Wildcard	59

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Anyone who's against the play-offs in rugby should just go and watch football in stead

[TRF_nickdnz]

Well done to the Chiefs. To be honest, the crusaders never looked like they deserved the win. They lacked any form of creativity in attack and their forwards were getting driven off the park. If Kieran Read was avalible it may have gone slightly differently.

I have to feel Todd Blackadder is in large part to blame for the loss. Adam Whitelock as consistant as he is, adds nothing on attack. Guildford never beats a man one on one. It's scary to think the Crusaders most dangerous back was Ryan Crotty! Sean Maitland must have been fuming, as there was no strike power in the Crusaders and yet Maitland still didn't get a look in for the entire game! If I was him I'd look for somewhere else to play, maybe the Blues? Somewhere Todd Blackadder isn't in charge of selections!

Players like Andy Ellis and Israel Dagg really weren't playing very well. All of Ellis's passes were delayed, he'd cponstantly pick the ball up, run it to the side of the ruck and then pass, limiting the amount of time Daniel Carter got with the ball to create anything. The result was the Crusaders were always under pressure. It was infuriating. He then waits for ages for the ball to be free, looks and points to the forwards he's going to pass it too and then finally passes it, like it's any wonder the forwards were getting smashed by the Chiefs with such obvious telegraphing. Israel Dagg has become the most predictable player in Super Rugby, everyone knows he's ganna do a little goose step and then keep running till he gets tackled. Guildford was typically his unthreatening self. He made a nice cover tackle at one point, but short of that he did little to threaten the line.
The forwards were equally frustrating. McCaw's running game has looked to improve quite a bit, but he still doesn't know how to pass the f*cking ball. It's amazing, he sees the overlap, but always decides to hit it up himself! Always! It was very evident in the Ireland tests and it costs his teams some of their best attacking chances! Matt Todd actually looked very good in my opinion, one of the picks of the pack.

The Chiefs were very impressive. Taumololo, Messam, Cane (when he came on), Tameifuna, Clarke, Retallick and Schwalger all had very good games for the forwards. Very physical and good in defense. Their setpieces started to crumble when Ben Afiaki came on (possibly due to his big layoff and Crockett being a very good scrummager), but other than that it was overall very good. For the backs, Robbie Robinson looked constantly dangerous. One thing I really like about him is that unlike so many back in New Zealand, when he gets the ball with space, he puts his head down and runs hard. Too many players try little steps which ultimately costs them speed and momentum. Robinson's running is exactly what I like to see. Cruden also looked very good for large parts of the match. Made the efforts for the forwards count and ran with the ball well and kicked for the right spots.