Captain Sam Whitelock and coach Scott Robertson will have some questions to answer after a tough month for the Crusaders. Photos / Getty Images
Captain Sam Whitelock and coach Scott Robertson will have some questions to answer after a tough month for the Crusaders. Photos / Getty Images
COMMENT:
The Crusaders brand has, quite unbelievably, taken a battering this year and in the most unusual ways.
It started with the complicated debate around the organisation's name after the mosque attack tragedy, a discussion which has evaporated since emotions were at their highest.
And just when you thought itwas safe to put the house on the red and black machine grinding out another title win, they unravelled off the field in South Africa and on it in Suva.
I don't believe these last two events are unrelated, even though the human factor is often overlooked in New Zealand rugby, where emotions are buttoned down and pieces moved around like a giant chess plan.
Even chess grandmasters are affected by emotions, events surrounding their games, incidents in their lives.
Whether it has gone all wrong for the Crusaders remains to be seen. Most of us expect them to rebound.
But whatever the outcome of the investigation into two completely separate off-field incidents in South Africa one thing is certain – Richie Mo'unga's self-confessed public drunkenness fell short of professional standards the Crusaders traditionally demand. And whatever he says publicly, he will know that he put a spanner in the works.
I believe the effects of the publicity and ongoing inquiry can be seen in his game and if poor Beauden Barrett had failed to put a foot on the throat, the way Mo'unga let the Chiefs off the hook in Fiji, then the annoying Barrett naysayers would have been in full voice again.
Richie Mo'unga's self-confessed public drunkenness in South Africa fell short of the Crusaders' off-field standards. Photo / Photosport
Mo'unga can do no wrong in the public eye but his form hasn't been great since the Cape Town escapade.
Apart from the odd starry moment, he failed to ram home the advantage his forwards gave the Crusaders against the Blues, even though the victory was extremely comfortable.
Mo'unga went missing in Suva, and he wasn't alone as a Chiefs side without two world stars in Brodie Retallick and Damian McKenzie ran riot on a startling comeback which also announced that Sam Cane is making a miraculous return.
Hot and humid Suva was a tough physical ask, and it was the younger team which prevailed, having conceded a 20-point start to the champions.
People shook heads in amazement the next day, wondering when the mighty Crusaders, whose prowess is at the heart of the All Black supremacy, had capitulated like that before.
All Black certainties – men with a lot of miles on the clock – like Kieran Read, Joe Moody and Ryan Crotty lacked energy in the face of the Chiefs onslaught from Solomon Alaimalo, Samisoni Taukei'aho and co.
Ryan Crotty, Jack Goodhue and Richie Mo'unga ... the All Blacks back combo failed in Fiji. Photo / Photosport
The concussion-racked Crotty has looked really tired over the past couple of weeks, and that isn't helping Jack Goodhue outside him.
In stark contrast, the still rising Crusaders lock Scott Barrett is firing on all cylinders, as is the Hurricanes' hurricane Ardie Savea.
In an ageing and battered All Black side, it is almost inconceivable that the top World Cup combination would start without both of those players.
Yet the number one All Blacks lineup, as initially conceived by coach Steve Hansen, would have had both players on the bench.
Sam Whitelock and Ryan Crotty are two of the Crusaders' (and the All Blacks') stalwarts. Photo / Getty Images
Because Savea is on the lightweight side, and Barrett offers a serious lineout option, Barrett at No 6 is the likely outcome.
Back to the Crusaders, and Suva. With the World Cup so close, a result like that can't be seen as entirely irrelevant to how the All Black chances are rated.
Hansen, while a Kiwi neutral, will surely want the All Black-laden champs to rediscover their famed 80-minute ruthless precision, see more threat from their inside backs and hope for some dominant performances from his captain Read.
