Thorn will have all the time he needs

Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder will be giving key lock Brad Thorn as much as possible this week to be ready to take on the Bulls in the Super 14 semi-final at Loftus Versfeld at 1am Sunday (NZT).

Blackadder was delighted with the way his team came through its rushed departure for Johannesburg on Sunday, and said the decision to have a night in Sydney on the way had proved a good one.

"We are all feeling pretty fresh and in pretty good nick," he said on Tuesday morning.

Thorn, who has been out of action with a hamstring strain, was very positive about his prospects for the game but he would probably be bracketed when the team was announced in order to give him time to fully assess his condition.

Thorn is seen as a vital cog in the Crusaders effort to take on the best lineout combination in the world in Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha, the World Cup winning pair with the Springboks in 2007.

Blackadder said it was obvious the tempo had lifted with the knockout status of the game. A queue of more than 500 people had been lined up outside the local ticket office to get seats for the game.

"It is a fantastic atmosphere, it will be exciting," he said.

Being in the unusual position of the underdog was not necessarily an advantage, he conceded.

"It depends whether the opposition takes you lightly or not. Certainly there is not so much pressure on you if you are the underdog but we are in a pretty good space at the moment," he said.

The semi-final would involve a lot of unfamiliar pressure for many of the younger players in his side.

But that created a nervous energy which, if used properly could help the side.

So too, the pressure of playing in the white-hot atmosphere of Loftus Versfeld.

"A lot of our guys had their first game on Eden Park last weekend. When you are young and dream of playing at the highest level this is where you want to play.

"There's no better place to play than a packed house at Loftus Versfeld," he said.

Blackadder knows what to expect. He was Crusaders lineout coach in the 2007 semi-final which preceded the Bulls winning the title.

Only two starting members of that side remain in the Crusaders but lessons from that experience had been put in place, including flying straight to Johannesburg instead of staying in Durban to prepare.

"If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger," was his summation of that experience.

The Bulls were on fire in their play to beat the Sharks at the weekend and the Crusaders know what to expect.

There were two trains of thought on how to attack the game plan. Traditionally the Bulls relied on forward strength and were regarded as being vulnerable to being run around. But the Crusaders have not executed attacking play as well as they have in the past for that to be an expected consideration.

The Crusaders could look to take on the Bulls at their strengths, or they could look to attack them through perceived weaker channels.

It was a case of getting the balanced approach right because there were no second chances," Blackadder said.

However, he was under no illusions that the Bulls would look to put the Crusaders under pressure, force mistakes and kick their goals, whether from penalty chances or dropped goals.

With that in mind discipline would be crucial, he said.

Blackadder made the point that it wasn't such a bad thing that the side would be having New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence for the second week in a row. At least the side would be mentally adjusted to his approach.