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Preview: Crusaders v Sharks
Sportal.co.nz - (25/02/2010)
After the shock of a loss at the hands of the Reds the Crusaders have every incentive to lift their effort against the Sharks in their Rebel Sport Super 14 clash on Friday evening.
HEAD TO HEAD: Played 15 - Crusaders 11, Natal/Sharks 3, drawn 1.
LAST TIME: April 18, 2009 (Durban) - Sharks 10-13 Crusaders.
LAST TIME AT VENUE: May 2, 2009 - Crusaders 18-10 Sharks.
WALKING WOUNDED: Apart from severely dented pride the Crusaders werenot in bad shape after Brisbane but Isaac Ross damaged an ankle at training early this week and has been replaced by Joe Wheeler, who takes a place on the bench with Brad Thorn promoted to the run-on XV. Richie McCaw makes an earlier than anticipated return to the bench in the wake of last week's horror show. The Sharks will be pleased to have Johann Muller back at lock and the front row has been rearranged to allow John Smit to pack at prop and Bismarck du Plessis to start at hooker but the backline, which has hardly fired a shot, is retained intact.
FORM:
PAST FIVE Crusaders:
Round 1: Beat Highlanders 32-17
Round 2: Lost to Reds 20-41
PAST FIVE Sharks:
Round 1: Lost to Chiefs 18-19
Round 2: Lost to Cheetahs 20-25
One win from four combined starts is hardly the sort of start these two sides would have wanted, and nor is it the sort of stuff the fans expect. One suspects the Crusaders didn't like the balls in use at Brisbane, as they kept giving possession away with a stream of handling errors (17 to three by the Reds, according to TV stats), and some of the tackling wasn't the best either. The Reds quickly worked out the best thing to do was simply to keep accepting these gifts and piled up the score accordingly. The Sharks, for the second week running, lost a home match they were probably expecting to win and did so on their merits. Some awful defence allowed Cheetahs fullback Riaan Viljoen to run a wayward kick back 75m for a try and regular infringements gave the Cheetahs' kickers plenty of practice at nailing three-pointers.
WHO'S HOT: Very few from either side earn an honourable mention on last week's displays, but Jared Payne tried hard on the Crusaders wing and pulled off a couple of last-ditch tackles that prevented further damage. Other than that, the side was outplayed from 1 to 22 and even Daniel Carter was completely overshadowed by Quade Cooper. The Sharks had nothing to get excited about and some of their errors were schoolboy failings; inability to catch high kicks under no pressure will only get the coach angry and missing a string of first-up tackles would not help his humour. Rory Kockott has kicked 11 goals from 15 attempts so far but only one attempt has been a conversion, as his team has simply failed to put together any constructive moves.
WE THINK: Despite the Crusaders' poor showing at Brisbane, we think they'll have far too much for the Sharks, who are battling on the field and who also have the travel factor against them this week. If the Crusaders don't win by 15 points or so, one suspects a few places may be on the line a week from now.
TEAMS:
Crusaders: 1.Wyatt Crockett, 2.Ti'i Paulo, 3.Ben Franks, 4.Sam Whitelock, 5.Brad Thorn, 6.Kieran Read (captain), 7.George Whitelock, 8.Thomas Waldrom, 9.Andy Ellis, 10.Daniel Carter, 11.Zac Guildford, 12.Ryan Crotty, 13.Robbie Fruean, 14.Sean Maitland, 15.Jared Payne.
Reserves: 16.Quentin MacDonald, 17.Owen Franks, 18.Joe Wheeler, 19.Richie McCaw, 20.Kahn Fotuali'i, 21.Adam Whitelock, 22.Colin Slade.
Sharks: 1.Tendai Mtawarira, 2.Bismarck du Plessis, 3.John Smit (captain), 4.Steven Sykes, 5.Johann Muller, 6.Jacques Botes, 7.Willem Alberts, 8.Ryan Kankowski, 9.Rory Kockott, 10.Ruan Pienaar, 11.JP Pietersen, 12.Adrian Jacobs, 13.Waylon Murray, 14.Odwa Ndungane, 15.Stefan Terblanche.
Reserves: 16.Deon Carstens, 17.Jannie du Plessis, 18.Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19.Jean Deysel, 20.Keegan Daniel, 21.Andy Goode, 22.Riaan Swanepoel.
REFEREE: Chris Pollock
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