Crusaders fans flock to final

A sea of red and black is guaranteed for Saturday night's Super 12 final between the Crusaders and the Waratahs at Jade Stadium.

The match is already sold out.

The Crusaders are strong favourites to win but captain Richie McCaw wants to save the sentimental stuff for after the final whistle.

Saturday night's final against the Waratahs will mark the final appearances in red and black jerseys for Dave Hewett and Justin Marshall and possibly others.

McCaw says it is sad to see the pair ending their Canterbury careers, but they cannot allow themselves to be distracted by side issues otherwise they will not focus on the game.

The Crusaders are banking on massive crowd support to ensure it is not a case of third time unlucky for the team.

The Crusaders have lost the last two Super 12 finals.

Richie McCaw says the past results are not something they are talking about.

McCaw says individually maybe they do, but as a team they will not talk about it - hopefully they do not start as badly as they did in last year's final against the Brumbies.

Meanwhile, it seems the Waratahs might be glad to get out of Sydney and into the hostile territory of Christchurch. The Waratahs arrive in town today.

Fullback Mat Rogers says they have tried to keep the hype surrounding their first final to a minimum, but it has been very difficult.

Rogers says they have had thousands of kids at training and a huge media contingent following them around.

He says it is been hard keeping things low key, when you are one team in a big city.

But Rogers is confident his teammates will not let the pressure get to them.

He says they are very proud of what they have achieved so far, but they will not settle for success in just the semifinals.

Both team lineups will be named tomorrow.

- NEWSTALK ZB