Hurricanes v Crusaders

[TRF_stormer2010]

Unreal. Best of luck and condolences to those who have suffered the loss of a loved one. With that death toll I assume the damage to infrastructure is also significant. My heart goes out to the people of Canterbury.

 

[lance2010]

Hayward to partner with Smith in the midfield.Hayward should be ok,he and Conrad roughly the same size,Smith 1cm taller and 3kgs heavier.Be intresting to see what the Canes gamplan will be to counter the Saders midfield.

 

[TRF_woosaah]

my family is down there and ok, which is good, my thoughts and prayers go to all those who have lost someone. I was meant to move down there in a months time but thats been put off for a few months.

 

[lance2010]

Unreal. Best of luck and condolences to those who have suffered the loss of a loved one. With that death toll I assume the damage to infrastructure is also significant. My heart goes out to the people of Canterbury.

Confirmed 65 at the moment,but could rise between 200-400 just saw on the news.

 

[nickdnz]

Short of minor injuries, none of my friends and family have been seriously hurt that I am aware of. Condolences go out to the victims and to those still suffering.

 

[Dizzy]

Heart wants the Canes to win but... when you look at how the Crusaders played last week, then add SBW into the mix if he's available and then minus Nonu from the Canes... the heart can't convince the head that they can do it.

I hope come 9:30PM on Saturday night, I'll be able to tell the head it was wrong.

tell that to the Highlanders.

I mean, they had to go up against pretty much the All Black backline with pretty much a backline full of nobodies and they pulled it off quite superbly.


As for the quake, thoughts are with everybody in Canterbury. It really sucks that this has happened especially when they were just recovering from the devastating September quake.

 

[TRF_RC]

If we go on previous week's games then this looks like it could be a long day in the office for the Hurricanes. They produced one of the worst performances of the weekend last week, whereas the Crusaders played well if they weren't a little sloppy.
I know kruden only had a short stint on the field last week, but i didn't think he had a very good game. He's a better player than he showed, and he needs to be more accurate with the boot.

I see a Crusaders victory, but it'll be a good game...and better for Nonu if he learns to be more loving and put his arms around the guy next time he wants to tackle him.

 

[Shaggy]

... Apparently they aren't sure if the game will go ahead according to the TVNZ website

http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-news/christchurch-under-world-cup-cloud-4038762

"A New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) spokesperson told The Dominion Post that it was too early to know if Saturday's Super 15 match between the Canterbury-based Crusaders and the Hurricanes in Wellington would proceed."

 

[William18]

Of more concern for the Crusaders is that AMI Stadium resembles a ski field. Servere liquefaction has ruled the stadium out of action for 5 months - the whole super 15 season. This also puts the stadium in doubt for hosting world cup matches. This city also has http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_II_Park which could at a stretch hold Crusaders games. It would not be able to host world cup quarterfinals, however.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

http://www.superxv.com/news/super15_rugby_news.asp?id=28998

The match has been called off and declared a draw in that both teams will share competition points (2 each)

 

[munstermuffin]

Nonu served his suspension so.
But right call made and condolences to all effected. Puts things perspective and hopefully New Zealand can recover in time

 

[lance2010]

Crusaders, Canes match to be a draw.

The Crusaders have decided to withdraw from their Super Rugby match against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday following the devastating earthquake in Christchurch.

http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-news/crusaders-canes-match-draw-4039300

 

[TRF_RC]

Hypothetically speaking, If the stadium does turn out to have been badly affected by the earthquake, where will be the most logical place for the Crusaders to host all their home games from now on?

 

[donmcdazzle]

I think it's a bad decision to call the game off. Unless the squad has family who have lost their lives I'm not sure they need to be there, it isn't like they are part of the recovery teams searching for people. Surely it would've been better to play the game, use it as a fundraiser (take a percentage of the gate like the Warriors are doing), have donation gatherers at the ground as well. Also give the poor people of Christchurch something else to think about on Saturday night.
If they want to be with their families it seems like it'd be a good opportunity to take them away from the area and bring them to Wellington.

In saying all that my condolences goes out to all those affected, absolutely heartbreaking to watch/hear about it.

To the above, I guess they could play them at Tasman's home ground up in Nelson, or QEII like someone else mentioned.

 

[T-Raz]

With Teusdays quake affecting Christchurch so badly, would most of the Crusaders home games be moved from AMI? To allow boffins to assess the structural integrity of the stadium and how will this also affect Christchurch's commitment to the RWC at years end??

 

[nickdnz]

With Teusdays quake affecting Christchurch so badly, would most of the Crusaders home games be moved from AMI? To allow boffins to assess the structural integrity of the stadium and how will this also affect Christchurch's commitment to the RWC at years end??

Well, to answer your question, the Crusaders home games will have to be moved. No doubt. To where, I'm not sure, problably Nelson. To answer your second question, it is not clear yet if AMI will be ready for the RWC. John Key has said that at this stage, it looks like they will be able to fix the damages to the stadium within 5 months, so there has been no changes at this stage to the venue.

Another thought, is if AMI stadium will not be fixed in time, the QF that Christhurch is holding will have to go to either Wellington or Auckland, the latter of the two options is spoilt for games as it is.

 

[donmcdazzle]

Even if they fix the ground in time I doubt the city will be commercially viable to host a huge influx of visitors, the games will all be moved I would imagine. Maybe Dunedin will get some more games now to keep them in the South Island.

 

[Shaggy]

Even if they fix the ground in time I doubt the city will be commercially viable to host a huge influx of visitors, the games will all be moved I would imagine. Maybe Dunedin will get some more games now to keep them in the South Island.

Dunedin would be my guess for RWC semis if Christchurch cant hold them - i read that if they can't hold RWC games in Christchurch, the region stands to lose $50 Million in lost revenue, so I guess they'll be doing everything they can to retain the games ... how many does the new stadium in Dunedin hold by the way?

As for the Crusaders games, I guess seating capacity is also a consideration, but it may be an opportunity to play some of the home games in the other unions that make up the franchise including Nelson ... i'm sure the likes of Marlborough, Buller, West Coast, Mid Canterbury, and South Canterbury (did I miss any out), would welcome a game.

 

[donmcdazzle]

It would be a good idea to share the games around the provinces. Not like the crusaders are averaging 30k a game in terms of spectators so as long as the ground could hold about 15k then they should be right.

 

[FlukeArtist]

Re the RWC games, if Chch can't hold them , I seriously doubt it will go to Dunedin; stadium is too small.

But RWC is the least of the worries for Chch at this time anyway