Recent set-piece problems for the Waratahs are judgment day delight for the Crusaders.

It ended in failure but the Brumbies' efforts in their semifinal against the Waratahs in Sydney have provided the Crusaders with plenty of encouragement.

The Waratahs aren't worrying for a single second about their drought against the Crusaders going into Saturday's Super Rugby final.

The Waratahs are concocting a plan to suffocate Daniel Carter in the Super Rugby showdown.

The Crusaders' forwards, who provided the platform for their semifinal victory over the Sharks with a dominant performance that at times embarrassed the big South Africans.

So you don't believe in history's influence on rugby games?

Wyatt Crockett's work-load is about to ramp up even more with a Super Rugby final then a starting role for the All Blacks in their world-record winning quest.

Departing coaching director Laurie Fisher is convinced the Brumbies are close to ending their decade-long Super Rugby title drought.

Todd Blackadder was asked how he thought he would feel if he got to lift the Super Rugby trophy as a coach.

We've got the Super Rugby final we wanted as a tantalising entree to the Bledisloe Cup, writes Wynne Gray.

The Crusaders to win by about 12 points. That is this column's pick for the Super 15 final.

Some years back, the Aberdeen Evening Express in Scotland reported on a big storm. At its height, a coastguard was asked by marine authorities to estimate wind speed.

It's off to Sydney then - which will host it's host final after the Waratahs clawed and scrapped their way into the last two.

The Crusaders juggernaut rolls on for another week, the Sharks dismantled piece by piece in Christchurch tonight by a team who look in clinical, and ominous, form.

Watch a replay of tonight's live blog of the Super Rugby semi-final between the Crusaders and the Sharks from AMi Stadium in Christchurch.

It's a very fine line between hero and zero. No one is more acutely aware of that than Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder.

You can attribute a large part of the Highlanders' demise last week to their struggles at scrum time against the Sharks.

Why the inquiry, surely it's superfluous? Why would the Waratahs alter an adventurous playing pattern that has vaulted them to the top of the Super Rugby series?

Afew years ago there was a discussion at Crusaders' management and administration level about what would be considered a good season.

The last time Jean Deysel played against the Crusaders in Christchurch, he spent the night after the game with mixed emotions.

He's already at another level, but superstar fullback Israel Folau is hoping to raise his game to impossible new heights in the Waratahs' semi-final against the Brumbies tomorrow.

Nothing beats a grudge game and the whiff of verbal cordite is swirling ahead of the Super rugby semifinal between the Waratahs and Brumbies.