Will the Crusaders be fishing Sharks in London?
Strange things do happen in this world and their occurrence for most of the times leads to the setting the trend for others to follow in the years to come.
Strange it might sound but it’s true for the first time in the history of the Super Rugby League a match will be played outside South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. (SANZAR) This outcome was however due to the recent earthquake that has jolted Wellington
and many crusaders too.
At the end of the Week 5 both teams are nicely placed with Crusaders at slot 2 and Sharks at 4 with both playing 5 games and losing a game each.
While the English supporters will still be under the shadows of the defeat of England to Ireland earlier last week, it is expected that the match will be houseful and the Twickenham will be all buzzing and roaring with both teams looking forward to fan support.
While the Crusaders home ground is a mess and the recovery not only would require heft resource but huge amount of cash to bring the ground in some sort of shape.
However, the Crusaders seems to have recovered from their earlier defeat by the hands of Auckland Blues by a score of 24 – 22 in favour of Blues with Blues scoring during the last 5 minutes of the game to take the game way from Crusaders.
Crusaders then took advantage of the Waratahs mistakes and capitalise in big way to record their second win in the season by beating the 33 – 18 with Waratahs exposing the weakness in their defence courtesy of three tries.
Crusaders soon overcome the early challenge provided by brumbies and completed a massive 45 – 10 victory over brumbies courtesy of Maitland’s try in early stages of both half’s. Crusaders then powered their way through the Hurricanes by beating them comprehensively
by 44 – 13 courtesy of the all around team effort that out classed the 1st half resistance from the hurricanes.
Sharks had a real match going with the Cheetahs till the 1st 15 minutes of the second half, but the match soon become one-sided affair with Sharks taking control of the game and playing flowing rugby on unfriendly pitch.
Unlike Crusaders who last their second game due to Earthquake, Protease Sharks overcome the challenge of the Auckland Blues to courtesy of remarkable play by their Fly – half Patrick Lambie which also enabled the sharks to record a bonus point.
Sharks then propelled their way through the western force 39 – 12 by playing disciplined rugby and also demonstrated the power available in the bench. The 5th week brought a bad news for the Sharks who were enjoying a good run in the Super XV
and were looking forward to improve their track record in New Zealand before the Chiefs spoiled their party big time.
Although, Sharks look a better unit on field courtesy of the Lambie’s fine three penalties scored at the regular intervals but the end result was in favour of the hosts by 15 – 9.
With southern hemispheres playing in the northern hemisphere, a tight first 30 minutes of game is predicted. However due to the injury to Lambie the Sharks need to perform exceptionally to overpower the Crusaders who will be eyeing to gain the Bonus Points
to further improve their standings in front of the London Crowd.
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