It was somewhat fitting that the Crusaders’ season officially ended in Lautoka. Never mind that it was in a game that they weren’t even playing in, but it was back in round three, in the stifling humidity of Churchill Park, that they really began to fall apart.
It marked three defeats in a row to start the Super Rugby Pacific season, a slump they never recovered from, which meant that a sombre Crusaders CEO Colin Mansbridge faced the press while his counterparts at the Hurricanes, Blues, Chiefs and Highlanders all started making plans for this weekend’s playoffs.
Mansbridge refused to say whether coach Rob Penney would be retained and that the season would go through a review process with an external company. While that’s clearly the correct business procedure, it does feel a little redundant given that ninth place, four wins and 10 losses after seven straight title-winning seasons really does say everything you need to know.
But this is what the review probably will reveal – along with a ton of internal feedback that will likely never be uttered outside the walls of the Crusaders’ facility at Rugby Park in St Albans:
Turnover
Two very influential players and a top coach leaving – that’s been the usual line as to why the Crusaders have fallen on hard times. Except the exact same thing happened to the Hurricanes, who arguably had a steeper mountain to climb given the reigning World Player of the Year skipped this season and their new coach had never had a fulltime XVs gig before. End result for them: top of the table at the end of the regular season.
Injuries
Scott Barrett leaves the field injured during the Crusaders' loss to the Reds. Photo / Photosport
Yes, Scott Barrett was a big loss but there is enough talent there in the second row to get by and besides, everyone gets injuries. The Blues lost their first-choice first five-eighths for most of the season and the guy who replaced him is now in the All Blacks conversation.
The Munster team celebrate with the Clash Of Champions Cup. Photo / Photosport
What was the point of the pre-season trip to play Munster and Bristol? The Crusaders barely bothered to promote the games and they weren’t shown on TV, so it was a long way to go simply to lose one of their new signings for pretty much the whole season.
Selections
The Crusaders' Noah Hotham grabs the ball from Moana Pasifika's William Havili, going on to score. Photo / Photosport
One of the bright spots for the Crusaders has been Noah Hotham, who is clearly set for the big future many had already predicted for him. Which makes it really hard to understand why he was sitting and watching Mitch Drummond and Willi Heinz play halfback for most of the first part of the season.
Then there was the persistence with Riley Hohepa at No 10, last year’s All Black Dallas McLeod being almost completely ignored and no direction at all in the lineout in Barrett’s absence.
Forgetting their identity
Tahlor Cahill takes lineout for the Crusaders during the Blues match at Eden Park. Photo / Photosport
The Crusaders scored one lineout drive try in their first 13 matches, then three in the last one. Why did it take Penney so long to figure this out?
Horrible goal-kicking
Somehow Hohepa, Leigh Halfpenny and Fergus Burke all lined up shots at goal in the opening minutes of games from in front of the posts and managed to spray them wide – a stark representation of the team’s struggles.
Positives
Noah Hotham celebrates his try with Codie Taylor, Sevu Reece and Dallas McLeod. Photo / Photosport
Sevu Reece managed to score 12 tries despite getting barely any ball, Christian Lio-Willie can’t be accused of not giving it everything in every game and Johnny McNicholl added plenty when he surprisingly returned from Wales. Besides, there’s only one more season of having to play in the pile of scaffolding they’ve been using as a home ground.
Media relations
How TVNZ reported the Rob Penney v Thomas Mead encounter. Photo / TVNZ
Penney’s outburst at TVNZ reporter Thomas Mead after the loss to the Brumbies was both tragic and hilarious at the same time. It showed a coach who had hit the wall after being questioned over and over again about losses, while also having no clue that microphones and cameras very much stay switched on until someone packs them up and puts them in the car. It unfortunately said a lot that a subsequent apology was issued by Mansbridge, not Penney.
Fallout
This was supposed to be an organisation that would normally have made Fergus Burke into an All Blacks first five – instead he’s leaving to play at Saracens. Given Burke is only 24, that would be actually quite an unfathomable turn of events at any Super Rugby side, let alone the one that had fashioned itself into a centre of excellence on and off the field. Is that reputation shot to bits now? Not quite, but one more season like this and it’ll be plummeting to the Earth in a flaming wreck.
