SADERS start season with a win

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The Crusaders have beaten the Highlanders 28-15 in a pre-season game in Motueka this afternoon.

It was a workmanlike performance by the Crusaders in wet conditions, but they will have been pleased with a first half which netted them three tries.

Israel Dagg opened the scoring when he scorched 70m after pouncing on some loose ball at the end of a rare Highlanders attack.

Andy Ellis scored on the end of some weak Highlanders defence up the middle of the ground at the end of the first quarter and Nafi Tuitavake added another long range effort just before halftime when he ran 80m.

The Highlanders had their best moments late in the game, with Malakai Fekitoa scoring from some good ball movement.

Ged Robinson had earlier scored the Highlanders first try of the season when he was driven over.

The Crusaders did come away from the game with some injury concerns with flanker Jed Brown being stretchered off, although it was more a precationary measure.  

Dagg also wobbled off with a head knock when taking a high ball and Adam Whitelock limped from the field.

The Highlanders have some concerns of their own with Elliot Dixon straining a hamstring and John Hardie playing with a back complaint.

 Crus

Thanks for the info.  I do not set much value in pre-season matches - they normally are poor indications what is to follow in the series itself.

Coaches - at least the SA ones - normally use these matches to try out youngsters to see what they can bring to the party and to try out combinations.

However, I had a look at the team - and the bench players listed and bar McCaw this seems to be the whole Crusader squad used - I assume that most players on the bench would also have gotten playing time.

The problem here is the opposition - the Highlanders were poor last season - and I cannot see any improvement in their team this year - looking at the team list provided.  I consequently do not think that the match is really a yardstick of what to expect from the Crusaders this year - am not overly impressed with the squad.

I thought Zac Guildford was in France - have they sent him back to New Zealand already? 

The strategy of repeatedly shifting the ball from side to side was hatched because management and players believed they had the skill, pace and fitness to keep the ball alive and stretch defences beyond breaking point.

It was eventually canned but not before opposition teams worked out that if they held their defensive line they wouldn't provide the gaps the Crusaders craved, which eventually resulted in the multiple phases going nowhere or possession being turned over.

Eventually, as winter set in, the Crusaders concentrated on a more orthodox plan of kicking for field position, using forwards to carry around the ruck and their backs to set more targets closer to their pack.

Blackadder also accepts that the coaches need to take ultimately responsibility for getting it wrong.

"Yeah, we took a hell of a lot out of it. You talk about slow starts to the season, well, we have to put hands up as coaches and say we contributed to that with the type of game we played.

"We have learned some valuable lessons and I am sure we will continue to learn them. We have worked really hard on a game plan that can adjust to the conditions and also the opposition."

While the players - especially the backs - staunchly defended the decision to play with width, and attempt to blow open sides by using their backline to keep the ball alive, it came it a massive cost.

In their first seven matches the Crusaders lost to the Blues, Hurricanes, Sharks and the Force. Operating with a dry ball and operating on fast tracks seemed to seduce them into believing they would split teams open but too often they conceded turnovers as opposition teams concentrated on committing more numbers to the breakdown.

By the time they met the Highlanders in their eighth round-robin match on April 20 there were signs that the Crusaders were beginning to tighten their game. And as the thermometer dropped over the following months, their successes mounted.

The Crusaders won eight of their last nine round-robin matches but the fast finish couldn't prevent the eventual champions, the Chiefs, winning the New Zealand conference and topping the overall log.

Since the competition format was revamped in 2011 the Crusaders have never finished in the coveted top-two spot that guarantees they get a bye during the quarterfinal and also qualifies them to host a home semi.

Crus

Nobofy says that preseason matches are not important.   What I said is that they are nor really providing reliable indicators of what to expect during the season.   

I do not know what I said to make you conclude "you may think you know what your talking about...but you obviously don't" since you agree with me that the Highlanders were poor last year and I cannot see how they brought in new blood that could improve them this year.

However,  the same can be said about the Crusaders - I did not notice any really new players in their squad,   Are their any?

The problem with New Zealand supporters are - they think their teams are [erfect and they di no real analysis of where strengths and weaknesses are.   When somebody else point out things "he does not know what he is talking about"

Let me quite frank - I always give credit where credit is due - but I do not paper over deficiencies and hope they will disappear.  You should have seen what I wrote about the Sharks last year - it did not make pretty reading. So that remains the case here as well.

I am looking forward to Super 15 and hope it is enjoyable as a rugby spectacle.