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/ 23 May 2008

Crusaders take top billing into Super 14 play-offs

Canterbury Crusaders coach Robbie Deans has urged his weary players to stay on track for a seventh Super 14 rugby title when they play their semifinal on Saturday against the Wellington Hurricanes. The Crusaders have begun to look worn in recent weeks, but Deans hopes the onset of the play-offs will stimulate their fighting spirit in the match at Christchurch.

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/ 2 May 2008

Crusaders send Sharks crashing

The Canterbury Crusaders extended their lead at the top of the Super 14 table to virtually assure themselves of a home semifinal after a hard-fought 18-10 win over the Coastal Sharks on Friday. With two rounds remaining, the chances of a semifinal spot for the Sharks — who were in third place going into the match — are waning after three straight losses.

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/ 25 April 2008

Crusaders beat Blues to cement Super 14 lead

The Canterbury Crusaders strengthened their grip on the Super 14 with a nail-biting 26-22 win over the Auckland Blues on Friday, taking them a huge step closer to a home semifinal spot. During an often frantic clash, the Blues pounded the Crusaders’ line in the last 15 minutes, scoring one try and missing another two by the narrowest of margins.

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/ 17 April 2008

Sharks look to keep unbeaten record intact

The Sharks believe their efforts to remain unbeaten in the Super 14 became more difficult when their 10th-round opponents, the ACT Brumbies, announced midweek that coach Laurie Fisher would not be re-hired for 2009. Super 14 tradition suggests that teams whose coaches are dismissed in the course of any season respond with an immediate form improvement.

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/ 20 March 2008

Crusaders threaten to open up big lead

Six-time champions the Canterbury Crusaders have boosted their team for an anticipated tough battle with the New South Wales Waratahs in this weekend’s feature Super 14 rugby clash in Christchurch. The Crusaders have the opportunity to open up a potential eight-point gap at the top with a bonus-point victory over the Waratahs on Friday.

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/ 15 March 2008

Crusaders a class above the Cheetahs

The unbeaten Canterbury Crusaders showed their depth of quality when they made sweeping changes to the side but still beat the Central Cheetahs 55-7 in Super 14 rugby in Christchurch on Saturday. In a nine-try rampage the Crusaders took maximum points to remain firmly embedded at the top of the table.

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/ 23 February 2008

Sad homecoming for Bulls

The Crusaders spoilt the Bulls’ homecoming when they thrashed them 54-19 in their Super 14 encounter played at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Friday. The visitors ran in a deluge of seven tries as opposed to the solitary one scored by the Bulls in the dying minutes.