Crusaders book 10th appearance in Super Rugby Final against Queensland Reds - Super Rugby News
The New Zealand derby, Crusaders, clinched an easy victory over the South African conference, Stormers, in the second semi-final of Super Rugby with a score of 29-10.
The “toughest match” of the season was played on July 2, in Newlands and the visitors outclassed the Stormers in every aspect of the game. The Crusaders, whose Achilles’ heel is their defence, proved that their rock solid front line was up to the task and
the squad created 80 percent tackles on attacks from the Stormers.
The veteran campaigner Dan Carter again came through for the Crusaders with his trusty boot and kicked two conversions and five penalty shots through the goalposts. He scored 19 individual points for his side to guide it through to the finals of Super Rugby
2011. Dan Carter was described as one of the most dangerous players on the Christchurch based Crusaders before the match and he proved to be just that.
Sean Maitland and Freuan scored one try each for the Crusaders and contributed their share in the teams’ victory. Meanwhile, their incoming skipper, Richie McCaw, and Wyatt Crockett produced excellent defence for their side and made most of the Stormers
attacks fruitless.
The Stormers, who were left chasing the Crusaders most of the time, could score only 10 points in the semi-final match in front of their home crowd. Habana helped his side with a try, whereas Grant guided the ball into the Crusaders goal two times with kicks.
He scored on one conversion and one penalty during the match.
The Stormes bit the dust at home for the second time in the current Super Rugby championship as they had lost the round match to the Crusaders on May 7. The crusaders were delighted with their performance in South Africa and will travel to Australia to take
on the Queensland Reds on July 9.
Talking to the media after the victory Crusaders skipper Richie McCaw was jubilant and said, ''We made a decision early on that we want to stand up for the people at home and to show what the Crusaders are all about. We have that chance now. Hopefully we
can do our people back home proud. They are struggling a bit, so we're doing it for them.''
He further said that, 'If you take that attitude, you don't get down, and you tick off what you need to do at training, even if it's not 100 per cent, so that you can perform on Saturday. Tonight was a great example of that. Now we've just got to bank that
and know that we can do it again next week.''
The Crusaders will take on the Queensland Reds in the final of Super Rugby 2011, on July 9. They have played nine finals of Super Rugby earlier, won seven and remained runners up two times.
Tags: