The chances of the Canterbury Crusaders winning their fifth Super 12 rugby championship this season hinge on how they perform against the in-form ACT Brumbies in this weekend’s seventh round of matches.
The Brumbies lead the southern-hemisphere provincial series by five points with the resurgent Crusaders 10 points adrift in sixth place, but having already had their bye.
The Crusaders have been the dominant team over the years in the Super 12 but are only coming into form after dropping their losing two matches of the season against the New South Wales Waratahs and the Auckland Blues.
Last week they put away the Otago Highlanders in Christchurch and once again have home advantage against the Brumbies, who have only dropped one match in six to the Northern Bulls three weeks ago in Pretoria.
Although the Crusaders posted their highest score of the season over the Highlanders, 46-29, coach Robbie Deans warns they will have to up the ante against the Canberra-based Brumbies.
”We let the Highlanders come back into the game and we will have to be tighter against the Brumbies,” he said. ”If you let through a leak with them, it can become a torrent.
”They are a team which are prepared to use every part of the ground and play with plenty of pace. This is going to be the acid test for us.”
But the Crusaders have their problems with five players, including playmaker Andrew Mehrtens, battling flu and injury.
Flyhalf Mehrtens and fullback Ben Blair missed midweek training with the flu, while prop Chris King and wing Caleb Ralph suffered knee injuries against the Highlanders. Prop Greg Somerville sprained his ankle in the previous round against the Chiefs and missed the Highlanders match.
The Brumbies are cautious of their Saturday match with the Crusaders with Wallaby prop Bill Young rating it the first significant test of their season.
Young says the campaign is about to hot up for the Brumbies.
”The season heats up now, we come into a different period playing what I consider the strongest teams in the competition, the New Zealand sides and the Waratahs,” Young said.
”We are playing the better sides in the competition and now we will be tested and we will see where we are really at after Saturday night.”
Defending champions Auckland Blues, who have been the abject disappointments of this season’s tournament currently wallowing one place off the bottom, have no alternative but to take maximum points against the faltering Waratahs in Auckland on Sunday.
Their cause was not helped by this week’s news that Fijian winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca, one of the most sought-after rugby players in the world, was ruled out of the remainder of the Super 12 with a shoulder injury.
But that was partly offset by the imminent return of playmaking flyhalf Carlos Spencer, a month after breaking his jaw.
Spencer visited his specialist this week and was given the all-clear to resume his season.
The Waratahs, one-time leaders, have slumped to fourth place after a run of three losses and coach Ewen McKenzie this week selected two players who were integral to last year’s campaign — flyhalf Shaun Berne and Wallaby outside centre Matt Burke. A major loss was Wallaby flanker Phil Waugh with a pinched nerve in his shoulder.
The fifth-placed Highlanders and the eighth-placed Waikato Chiefs meet in Dunedin on Friday where the losers will have their semifinal hopes severely dented.
Second-placed Western Stormers and third-placed Bulls have a bye this weekend, and All Black forward Jerry Collins reckons the Wellington Hurricanes will be gone for the season if they lose Saturday’s home match against the Queensland Reds in Wellington.
”We need to win, especially with the bye next week,” Collins said on Thursday. ”It’s the same for the Reds, so both teams will be pretty desperate.”
South Africa’s Coastal Sharks, who beat the Highlanders and Hurricanes on the road, must fancy their chances of maximum points against the Golden Cats in Durban on Saturday to fuel their drive up the standings from their current seventh spot. — Sapa-AFP