Saturday, June 25, 2011
The Crusaders head into the semis with win over the Sharks
It was a game that had all the makings of a classic, yet the poor handling from both sides amidst dewy conditions meant that progress was hampered and the game failed to flow for the most part. Early on the Sharks won the physical battle, but were the victims of their own demise as they coughed up the ball and failed to make real inroads into the final third.
The Crusaders were typically composed, as they played the percentages and even when Dan Carter missed kicks uncharacteristically, they wore down their opponents and capitalised on their chances later in the match. "It took a bit of time, we knew that was going to be the case but the guys just stuck to it," captain Kieran Read said after the game.
Their was some controversy surrounding some of the calls from referee Bryce Lawrence, but the Sharks themselves will know that the challenge facing them over in New Zealand was a massive one. The home side now have to do a similar trek, as they will have to travel to Cape Town to face the Stormers in the semi final next weekend.
"It's just part of this journey these boys have created this season and we want to do well over there (in South Africa) and hopefully get another win under our belts."
Sharks captain Stefan Terblanche was gracious in defeat. "We would have liked to have gone on further but we came up against a championship team tonight.
"They've had a lot of adversity, a lot of difficulty outside of rugby. For a team to come together the whole season, not to play one home game all season, well, the Sharks wish them all the very best," he said, referring to the Crusaders not having a regular home ground.
Time: 04:13
Posted at 10:57 pm | 45 comments
|
|
Viewing 45 comments
Anonymous June 25, 2011 10:24 pm

Anonymous June 25, 2011 10:35 pm

Anonymous June 25, 2011 11:46 pm

Tom H June 26, 2011 12:11 am

Anonymousity June 26, 2011 12:41 am

Johnson June 26, 2011 1:55 am

Anonymous June 26, 2011 3:53 am

Douglas June 26, 2011 5:34 am

Either way, the Saders were simply the better side. Newlands should be interesting this week. A very depleted Saders side already took one earlier this year, the Stormers should have plenty of motivation.
moddeur June 26, 2011 9:49 am

Anonymous June 26, 2011 10:51 am

Anonymous June 26, 2011 11:05 am

Anonymous June 26, 2011 1:27 pm

Anonymous June 26, 2011 1:28 pm

Anonymous June 26, 2011 2:27 pm

Anonymous June 26, 2011 2:51 pm

edbok June 26, 2011 5:02 pm

The penalty given against Beast should be run on RD as exhibit A of why not to appoint crap refs for big games.
red June 26, 2011 6:17 pm

This match in particular, yeah, but he's always a marginal referee at best. Overly pedantic is his m.o. and yet he still blows his whistle willy-nilly and gives half-assed reasons for awarding penalties.
When I look up upcoming games, and I see his name as the match referee, that right there means chances are it'll be a dull, referee-dictated game.
Somewhat related to that: Terblanche may be a good player (especially given his age), and a good sport even when his team loses, but he is one heck of a little bitch when it comes to talking with referees. Every time he talks with one, he's as whiny as a goddamn scrumhalf. Jaysus! Team captains ought to take lessons from McCaw and Smit on how they should talk to referees if they want the ref to take them seriously.
(PS - where has Mark Lawrence been? He and Craig Joubert are the two top SH referees, but I've only the latter recently.)
Anonymous June 26, 2011 6:43 pm

katman June 26, 2011 6:57 pm

Anonymous June 26, 2011 9:46 pm

I still think though that SANZAR should stop appointing hometown refs, especially at the finals stage. It simply puts unnecessary additional pressure on the refs.
I don't think the South African teams were the only ones to suffer from these kinda calls though. The Tahs were hard done by the ref in at least one game of their South Africa tour by a South African ref.
Anonymous June 26, 2011 9:56 pm

Anonymous June 26, 2011 10:06 pm

Just pointed out that he was awful.
The Crusaders totally shut the Sharks down; there's no denying that.
But that doesn't mean people can't ridicule Lawrence for his crap performance. Yeah, referees make mistakes - it's part of being human - but Bryce Lawrence is just one of those refs that I dread seeing call a game. You just know something stupid will happen with him at the helm.
Anonymous June 27, 2011 1:55 am

Flip V June 27, 2011 2:27 am

And don't even start with the anti-SA conspiracy theories...Unbelievable!
Pull your skirt back down, grow a set man...
Anonymous June 27, 2011 4:54 am

Poofter June 27, 2011 5:34 am

The referee!!!
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghh!!!
Anonymous June 27, 2011 5:34 am

Good to see SBW dice up yet another South African team... So much for reading his offloads (4 line breaks, 6 broken tackles, 1 try and almost a try-assist) I think he herd your muppet national coach yapping and took notice!
So far only the Cheetahs made an impact on him and we all know there are 2 many white boys in that team and won't fit your national race quota!
Suckerrrss
Anonymous June 27, 2011 10:06 am

edbok June 27, 2011 10:27 am

Here's how the NZ Herald reported it:
"he managed to milk a penalty when he went all dying swan after a fair collision with JP Pietersen."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/super-15/news/article.cfm?c_id=331&objectid=10734586
Anonymous June 27, 2011 1:00 pm

Anonymous June 27, 2011 1:29 pm

Anonymous June 27, 2011 2:02 pm

Anonymous June 27, 2011 5:28 pm

Get out of this stupid biased Sanzar rubbish and put more effort into the Currie Cup!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anonymous June 27, 2011 11:48 pm

The Currie Cup is good, but not nearly as appealing to broadcasters and advertisers as Super Rugby.
It would cripple south Africa financially, and they know that.
It's why they tried to get involved in Europe, because they need international competition to get the revenue they need.
But Europe basically told them to get fucked, so SANZAR it is.
Anonymous June 28, 2011 5:27 am

Anonymous June 29, 2011 4:14 am

BigMeyer June 30, 2011 3:01 am

+ S15 get bigger crowds than any comp (excluding Int) in the North.
So, find another way to be a wanker...















Commenting as Guest | Register or Login