Crusaders blow brave Cats away

The Crusaders, scoring three converted tries in the final 15 minutes, recorded a convincing 43-15 win over a brave team of Cats in their Super 14 Round Six match at Jade Stadium in Christchurch on Friday. The Six tries to two victory entrenched the Crusaders at the top of the standings.

Man of the match: Daniel Carter

Before the Crusaders' now customary late blitz - 21 points in those last 15 minutes - the Cats were not just competitive, they would have believed they had a chance of an upset.

In the end the Cats were humbled yet again, but for an hour or so they matched the Crusaders.

Then the Crusaders sent on Richie McCaw and Chris Jack, after which possession nearly dried up for the Cats, and the bits that they got they squandered.

After a long period without the ball, Earl Rose kicked it to the Crusaders. When replacement scrum-half Jano Vermaak had a great break down the middle of the field, he, too, kicked it to the Crusaders to set Leon MacDonald running.

In the end the size of the victory may have flattered the Crusaders, but class does not need flattery.

Their last try came from completely fragmented play and there is no team on earth better than profiting from fragmented play.

After the siren went to signal the end of the match they kept darting up the field, aided in that time by a string of three penalties conceded by the Cats till replacement scrum-half Andrew Ellis was the last player left standing and scored the final try.

On the penalty score the Cats had started that half with an unhappy string of penalties. Drawing 12-all at half-time they started running well and putting pressure on as they went on the attack. But then they conceded four penalties in little more than a minute, and Daniel Carter converted the last one to give the home side the lead, after which they did not look like losing. It was just a matter of when they would get the bonus-point try, which came with 11 minutes to go.

The Cats had ended the first half on 12-all against the Crusaders XV, a much better state of affairs than in their previous match against the Waratahs. In fact they could have been ahead had Earl Rose not missed two easy penalty kicks at goal. But they had scored two tries in the half, twice as many as they had scored in their previous five matches in the Super 14. The tries it is true were scored by forwards at close quarters, inevitable to a team with wings of such poor quality.

Rose's first miss was at the first scrum early in the match when Greg Somerville was penalised at a scrum. He was penalised at two scrums in the half, which was not surprising as he seemed to find the unaccustomed position of loosehead unsettling and managed to get part of his body on the ground at every scrum. The scrums were messy.

Jaque Fourie of the Cats had four good breaks in the half, but the Cats generally preferred kicking to running. That said their defensive pressure on the Crusaders forced the home side into many errors, putting the ball into ten scrums to the Crusaders' five.

After a long period of pressure, the Cats had a line-out six metres out, they threw to Kleinjan Tromp at the front, and eventually Wikus van Heerden scored far out. Rose converted. 7-0 after 13 minutes.

Fourie had a promising break but his grubber ricocheted off MacDonald and the Crusaders were on the attack. From a five-metre line-out they went wide to the left and Scott Hamilton with Conrad Jantjes and Wylie Human in attendance gave an inside pass to MacDonald who scored.

Aaron Mauger got the second try from broken play and Carter's conversion made it 12-17 to the home side.

The Cats were not done. From an attacking scrum they went right to the blind-side and battered till Tromp scored. He clearly scored but the television match official took long in deciding that it was a try. Rose's conversion hit the upright and bounced out. He could have given his side the lead but missed a straightforward penalty and then when the Cats attacked down the right, Human kicked dead.

The Cats may have had the better of the half.

They certainly did not have the better of the second half as their wells dried up or were poisoned by themselves.

On advantage the Crusaders went left. Mauger got the ball and chipped back to his right off his right foot, sped after the ball as it bounced in the cats' goal area and scored a brilliant try. Carter's conversion made it 22-12.

Willem Scholtz had the first of two great runs from clever work at the front of the line-out, but on both occasion the effort fizzled out for lack of support as if all the other players were unaware of what was intended.

Tiaan Snyman, on at fullback for Jantjes, kicked a penalty which kept the Cats in range, but it was a sunset for them, not a dawn.

The Crusaders did a powerful pick-'n-go down the right, set going by McCaw's power. Then they went left where MacDonald scored the bonus-point try.

Their fifth try came from a mess at a defensive line-out which the Cats won but did not guard and Jack came powering through, picked up the ball and stretched out a long arm for a try. Carter converted. 36-15 with three minutes to go. Three minutes plus a couple after the siren as the Cats gave away penalties on their long retreat to yet another defeat.

Man of the Match: Kleinjan Tromp was a star for the Cats and Jaque Fourie close to being one. For the Crusaders there were eventually several - Ross Filipo at lock, strong Scott Hamilton on the wing, energetic, elusive, strong Leon MacDonald at the back, versatile Aaron Mauger with vision in the centre and out Man of the Match Daniel Carter at fly-half for doing with splendid calm everything that a fly-half should do.

The scorers:

For the Crusaders:
Tries: MacDonald 2, Mauger 2, Jack, Ellis
Cons: Carter 5
Pen: Carter

For the Cats:
Tries: Van Heerden, Tromp
Con: Rose
Pen: Snyman

Teams:

Crusaders: 15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Scott Hamilton, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Kevin Senio, 8 Brad Mika, 7 Johnny Leo'o, 6 Reuben Thorne (captain), 5 Ross Filipo, 4 Kevin O'Neill, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Greg Somerville.
Replacements: 16 Tone Kopelani, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Chris Jack, 19 Richard McCaw, 20 Andrew Ellis, 21 Cameron McIntyre, 22 Caleb Ralph

Cats: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Wylie Human, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Jorrie Muller, 10 Earl Rose, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Cobus Grobbelaar, 7 Wikus van Heerden (captain), 6 Gerhard Vosloo, 5 Willem Stoltz, 4 KleinJan Tromp, 3 Daniel Muller, 2 Delarey du Preez, 1 Pietman van Niekerk.
Replacements: 16 Lukas van Biljon, 17 Lawrence Sephaka, 18 Gordon Gilfillan, 19 Ernst Joubert, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Tiaan Snyman, 22 Wayne Julies.

Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Touch judges: James Scholtens (Australia), Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Television match official: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Assessor: Alan Bateman (New Zealand)