Southern comfort for canny Cantabs

Crusaders 35 Bulls 15

Ho hum, it's going to be the Crusaders in the final for the sixth successive year, after the red-and-black machine did what every man and his dog knew they would do last night at Jade Stadium.

It was also as if the travel-weary Bulls were resigned to their fate, such was their reluctance to try and carve out an alternative destiny.

Maybe we shouldn't be too hard on the visitors. Plenty of teams have come to Christchurch, seen the relentless phalanx of red jerseys and said "no thanks".

But this was a semifinal - a do or die moment if ever there was one. It was a chance for the Bulls to prove that the magic of sport lies in its timeless ability to defy the odds and make heroes of men previously cast as mortal.

The Bulls, though, didn't seem too interested in all that until they found themselves 23-8 down shortly after halftime. Then they livened up and tried to find some width, but it's all good and well being brave once the scoreline has forced you into it.

As for the Crusaders, they never really had to work too hard for the win. It kind of came to them.

Aware of the threat the Bulls posed with their twin towers locking combination of Victor Matfield and Baakies Botha, Daniel Carter, Leon MacDonald and Aaron Mauger were all happy pumping the ball downfield to see if the Bulls were up for chancing their arm.

The idea didn't appeal to fullback Jaco van der Westhuyzen, who reckoned playing force-back would be more fun. Predictably, however, the Crusaders won that battle too and Scott Hamilton and MacDonald had to run the ball back so many times in the first half that they ran out of ideas on how best to do it.

It was easy to see why the Crusaders were keeping the ball in play, but why the Bulls were doing it is a mystery they might want to spend their lengthy return journey trying to solve.

The Crusaders are the best counter-attacking side in modern rugby history and time after time they would gather up wayward kicks and have the ball on the opposite touch in a flash to send the Bulls defence scrambling and their lungs heaving.

That was the scenario that led to Rico Gear's first try after 20 minutes. Hamilton gathered on the left wing, the ball was worked infield, MacDonald regathered a chip and from the recycled ball Casey Laulala fed through a perfect grubber for Gear.

It was one of many classy touches by Laulala, who also had a hand in the second try when, after a miraculous turnover, he was set free and timed his pass perfectly to Gear who went over in the corner.

When Chris Jack flopped over the tryline unopposed after 17 phases in the first minute of the second half, coach Robbie Deans could start to think about working his bench.

His first move was to relieve the front row, who perhaps not so predictably had also won the scrummaging battle. These days the importance of the scrum is often overplayed - look at the Wallabies, they made two World Cup finals with a pack that couldn't shift a decent heffer.

But because the Bulls still pride themselves on their ability to dominate that phase, it sunk their hearts to see Greg Somerville so in command on his 100th appearance.

Young Wyatt Crockett also played his part. Sure, he was exposed at times, but at others he looked the goods and gave Danie Thiart a difficult night.

Crockett was also prominent at the breakdown where it was clear the Crusaders were trying to get underneath their bigger opponents and drive them off the ball when it was on the ground and hold them up when the Africans were trying to maul.

By the final whistle, it seemed that the Bulls had in fact been more game than we realised as turning up seemed pretty gutsy in itself.

If the Crusaders' success is casting a shadow of predictability over the Super 14, no one in Christchurch is aware of its presence.

Crusaders 35 (R. Gear 2, C. Jack, C. Flynn, A. Mauger tries; D. Carter 2 cons, pen, dg)

Bulls 15 (B. Habana, P. Spies tries; M. Steyn con, pen).