McCaw back, Carter at 10 for 'Saders

McCaw back, Carter at 10 for 'Saders

26th Mar 2015, 08:32

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Back at seven: Richie McCaw

Richie McCaw will start on the openside flank and Dan Carter at fly-half when the Crusaders face the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.

Those are just two of the five changes which head-coach Todd Blackadder has made to his starting line-up that beat the Cheetahs in Christchurch last weekend.

There are also two rotations in the front row, with prop Joe Moody and hooker Ben Funnell taking the starting spots this week in place of Wyatt Crockett and Codie Taylor who are both on the bench.

McCaw returns to play this week at seven, while Matt Todd will provide loose forward cover from the bench.

Carter will also play in his traditional number 10 jersey, which sees Tom Taylor move into inside centre and Colin Slade preparing to make an impact from the reserves.

Crusaders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Kieron Fonotia, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Tom Taylor, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jordan Taufua, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Ben Funnell, 1 Joe Moody.

Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Jimmy Tupou, 20 Matt Todd, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 Colin Slade, 23 David Havili.

Date: Saturday, March 28
Kick-off: 19:10 local (17.10 GMT, 06.10 NZST, 04.10 AEST)
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
Television match official: Deon van Blommestein (South Africa)

 Some pòsitive notes,........ Crockett on the bench, after all the week bearing the saffa complaints and whinning he was going to be penalized even following the rules  scrupulously and scrumming perfectly,........... Carter at 10, it's his natural place,.........  Taufua in the starting XV, he's the inform blindside of the comp and he's knocking the AB door,.... a pity he's a little bit small for that spot (1.80 and 100 kg) but he compensate it with his strrenght, his 100kg are pure strenght,....... with 5 more cm. and 10 more kg he would be unstoppable.

But Blackladder sticks with some negatives,.......... Fonotia and Crotty are out of position,........ and even though Slade is out of form ( he didn't complete a correct pass last week) saders need him inform and the only way of achieving it is giving him gametime. He should play at FB where he doesn't need the accuracy in the pass needed at 10.

The backline should be:

9. A. Ellis     10. D. Carter

12. R. Crotty    13. K. Fonotia

11. N. Nadolo    14. I. Dagg      15. C. Slade

or even 14. C. Slade and 15. Dagg

 ABF
With respect - the scrumming issue had nothing to do with "the saffa complaints and whinning" and everything to do with the legality of the scrumming by the Crusaders. Whether you like it or not - the scrumming was groslly illegal last week.  

It is clear that there were some strong words spoken about illegal scrumming and Crockett is the worst case scenario about that kind of scrumming.   So I am not surprised about that decision at all.   The fact that the referee abetted illegal scrumming is a real problem and was largely the reason for the big Crusader win.
However, Crockett was not the only offender in that case.  owen Franks is another scrummer with a very dubious record and he was also scrumming inwards all the time last week.  
Just a question - is the referee who reffed the Crusaders game last week - refereeing any game this week?  Would be interesting to know that one.      

 yeah, yeah,...... sure, both Crockett and Franks were always scrumming inwards (you forgot Moody and Laulala, mike) while the Cheetahs props were scrumming perfectly and correct. All the scrums that went wrong were saders' fault and the ref only penalized the cheetahs.
What a joke!!!!!

Nor Oosthuizen (who since his neck injury has many scrumming problems) nor Redelynghus could bear Crockett's and the rest of saders' scrum's strenght and they were the main, not the only but the main culprits of going inwards, they were even popped up more than once when they couldn't bear the opposite scrum strenght.

 ABF
With respect - the NZ  props are all marginal between under-par and average - that is why both Crockett, franks and the rest are always under stress and constantly revert to illegality.   They are not going to have that benefit on Saturday and we shall soon see how they go.
Coenie scrummed Woodc ock into the ground in the Blues game - and he is allegedly one of the better props in NZ.   Shows you how really wicket Crockett was last week.
Best advice - the NZ teams have excellent loosies and backlines - there Tight 5 are clearly not the better component of their games.   So better not be too blatant about their props - they are in the main second level at best.        

 mike,

so you establish as a fact that the NZ props are "all marginal between under-par and average" (I supose that you are talking only about scrums coz their game around the field is stre ets ahead of that of saffa props and any other props) just because they are NZers and from here you deduce (no matter what happen on the field) that they always commit illegallities.

Well, your premise is incorrect hence all your proposal is incorrect. The saders scrum last year was the best of the comp, they were the best team winning their own feed scrums (92%) and one of the bests against feed (3rd or 4th if I don't recall wrong).

"...... Crockett on the bench, after all the week bearing the saffa complaints and whinning he was going to be penalized even following the rules  scrupulously and scrumming perfectly"

bawhahahaha,

i havent read any comments, but i can just imagine the saffas complaining and crying their butts off,

that was bound to happen though, south african rugby achievements for the last 5 seasons have been the bulls winning the 2010 spXV and the blitzboks gold medal in the commonwealth games and nothing else.

while these failures are just a way fo south african rugby life, the locals have found solace that their forward packs from the Boks to their spXV clubs have been formidable and feared by many.

to see the lions pack get destroyed so completely by the crusaders is something that shakes the very fabric of the saffa rugby world.

i can wholeheartedly believe that cries of injustice have been loud and plentiful from the saffa corner, cos like kicking a rugby ball, it is their nature,

 ABF
The Crusaders scrum last year the best in the comp.  Yet they could not compete against the Sharks scrum when the Sharks had for 55 minutes only 14 players on the field and 13 for another 10 minutes.  Come now be serious!!! 

 Sasue
My dear friend - it is very nice to have you back on site.
Now lets get this straight and clear - the phrase "he was going to be penalized even following the rules  scrupulously and scrumming perfectly" can never be applied to Crockett.   The day he learns to scrum legally is many, many years from now. 
What was worsae than the Lions pack - was the demolition job done on the Chief's pack a few weeks ago.  That was the worst scrumming by any side in the super series since it originated.
I am a great admirer of the backlines of NZ sides and even some of their loosies - although McCaw has lost the plot  - I like Cane and Read a lot.  But for ehavens sake - their props are at best marginally average to bloody poor. 

When Crockett first made a name for himself, he was dominating every scrum opponent.
I was surprised to see that he was not selected for the All Blacks, He looked hands down the best scrumming prop in the SuperXV
Apparently those in the know in the All Black camp were aware that his techniques were illegal and would be exposed as a fraud at international level. The Northern Hemishpere refs would have non of his scrumming illegally. With Mccaw in the side cheating all of the time, Crockett was just one step to far, 

 Have our Kiwe mates read " County of the Blind" yet?

 @sasue,

"i can wholeheartedly believe that cries of injustice have been loud and plentiful from the saffa corner, cos like kicking a rugby ball, it is their nature,"

LOL , I can assure y ou that this is exactly what happened, loud cries of injustice have been heard
Scrums are a little bit like the nation's pride (it's the only aspect of the game that the saffas remain competitive) and it hurts when they are demolished

Abasquefan, the last time I checked South Africa ranked number 2 in the world. 
Yes the All Blacks are still the best team, but then where is your own country-  Basque Country ranked?
At least we have a team to support and not forced to become a fan boy of another country. he  he . 

 @mike,

"Yet they could not compete against the Sharks scrum when the Sharks had for 55 minutes only 14 players on the field and 13 for another 10 minutes. "

the saders couldn't compete in scrums? really?
These are the scrum on own feed stats for that match:

Crusaders:  5 won, 1 lost (83.3%)

Sharks::      2 won, 3 lost (40.0%)

so they won 73% of all the scrums and they could not compete?

 it hurts, it seems it hurts big way,........ I was just joking and exaggeratting a little bit with sasue

 Oh, and I don't believe in things like your country's pride,........ even less in relating it with the sports.

 So, what do you believe? Pick the best team on offer till they run outa luck and then jump ship?