“A lot of conversations this week were just about managing the game and working to our strength at set piece.”
That strength suggested the Crusaders should still be considered favourites to secure a home quarter-final, after their third defeat of the season had dropped them outside the top four.
No playoff game will be quite this straightforward as this bonus-point victory; the Force are 11th for a reason and have lost their last five games against the Crusaders by an average of 20 points.
But as the round robin winds down, Scott Robertson’s side outdid that recent record with a game plan that could well be the basis of a seventh title in as many seasons.
A rock-solid scrum laid the foundation throughout and an unstoppable rolling maul turned trips inside the 22 into a procession, as Brodie McAlister grabbed a hat-trick.
The hooker was the biggest beneficiary of the hosts’ formidable lineout drive, enjoying a rare start and more than doubling his career try-scoring tally. But braces to Leicester Fainga’anuku and Macca Springer also owed as much to set-piece ascendancy as they did the wingers’ elusive footwork.
Completing a near-perfect night for the Crusaders, fullback Will Jordan flourished in the space created by his forwards, racking up 137 metres in his first action since September.
“It’s awesome to see Will back out on our side,” Barrett said. “He’s been ripping us up at training in the last month or so. We’re stoked to see him back.”
The Force will be stoked they can forget about the Crusaders for another year. They must have known what was coming, given their opponents boasted a competition-leading seven tries from mauls this season, but that knowledge did nothing to help negate the home side’s powerful pack.
It took the Crusaders a quarter to establish control but McAlister’s opener offered more than a hint of what was to come.
The Force weren’t aiding their own cause as basic errors offered the opposition extra chances. And the Crusaders hardly needed the help, monstering the visitors’ scrum to win a penalty, kick for the corner and drive for McAlister’s second.
Their third try once more came through the maul but on this occasion the ball did escape, with the backs rapidly spreading it through the hands to give Fainga’anuku his eighth try of the season.
A stepping Springer made it an 18-point halftime lead after Richie Mo’unga had slipped him through a hole, the set play coming from yet another stable scrum.
And the contest was essentially over in the first possession after the break as McAlister completed his hat-trick, with any halftime plans devised by the Force to halt the maul rendered immediately ineffective.
The Crusaders proceeded to play largely without error for the rest of the match, adding three further tries and applying a suffocating defence that was breached only with 10 minutes to play.
Crusaders 48 (Brodie McAlister 3, Leicester Fainga’anuku 2, Macca Springer 2, Codie Taylor tries, Richie Mo’unga 4 cons)
Force 13 (Jackson Pugh try; Max Burey 2 pens, con)
Halftime: 24-6
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