Carter: 20 points for Crusaders
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The Crusaders bounced back from last week's shock loss to the Cheetahs, to beat the Chiefs 25-19 in a lacklustre Super Rugby match in Napier on Saturday.
All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter kicked five penalties, a conversion and a drop-goal to end the match with twenty of his side's points with the boot.
The Crusaders' victory closed the gap to two points behind the Blues who lead the New Zealand Super Rugby conference.
Carter showed why the New Zealand Rugby Union attached such priority to winning his signature on a new four-year contract this week, exerting a subtle influence on all aspects of the Crusaders' game.
The 29-year-old, having only recently overcome a hamstring injury, carried the ball confidently to the defensive line, picking at its fabric and then finding runners with well-timed passes to direct the Crusaders' attack.
While the rest of the Crusaders' backs seldom combined to threaten the Chiefs' defence, the home side's forwards became increasingly dominant and Carter turned that dominance into territory and points.
Stephen Donald kicked four penalties for the Chiefs and added a conversion of Liam Messam's last-minute try to earn the Chiefs a losing bonus point.
Donald and Carter exchanged penalties in a scrappy first half which left the teams locked 6-6 at half-time. A try to lock Luke Romano's immediately after the break was crucial, giving the Crusaders a seven-point lead and the base to play with more authority.
Carter's accurate tactical kicking kept the Chiefs pinned in their half for long periods of the second half and he was able to take advantage as the visitors gave him six second-half shots at goal, of which he landed four.
The scorers:
For Crusaders:
Try: Romano
Con: Carter
Pens: Carter 5
Drop: Carter
For Chiefs:
Try: Messam
Con: Donald
Pens: Donald 4
Crusaders: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Brent Ward, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 George Whitelock, 5 Chris Jack, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Brad Thorn, 19 Joe Wheeler, 20 Steve Alfeld, 21 Matt Berquist, 22 Tu Umaga-Marshall.
Chiefs: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Tim Nanai-Williams, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Dwayne Sweeney, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Romana Graham, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Ben Afeaki, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Sona Taumalolo.
Replacements: 16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 Toby Smith, 18 Culum Retallick, 19 Taiasina Tuifua, 20 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 21 Mike Delany, 22 Jackson Willison.
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Comments
capedcrusader says...
Some good comments as they sum up the quality of rugby knowledge here on PR. The reason the game was a yawn for u was down to the quality of the defence. A typical derby with a Crusaders team glaringly short of a quality right sided finisher. The crowd did boo the drop goal(s). Carter simply knew the momentum had been lost from the lead up & it would be too difficult to break the line so chose to take some deserved points as any team player who knows a game is 80 mins would. Once the game plan was changed at half time the basics were done well. A professional win from a world class side who don't give a @@@@@what some numpty PR poster thinks. A lot of handling work still needed from a very underconfident Chiefs team who were in it until the last 10. Round 14 in the bag tick.
Posted 13:39 23rd May 2011
Ramage says...
Trinats you are such a bore one-eyed, yellow at that. A few weeks ago you were talking about the bye being there to help the NZ teams at the bottom of the points table. Last time I looked the Rebels Brumbies and Force were there propping up the Lions who consistently occupy that part of the ladder.I also see Giteau has learned a trick or two from Greg Chappell if you are frightend of losing bowl an underarm or kick for touch. In other words raise the white flag. Appropriately the Wallabies wear Yellow jersies very apt. The Waratahs are in for a slamming in South Africa as they wont stand up to the might of the Sharks and the Bulls. The only Oz team I have any regard for is the Reds and I look forward to a really good game on Sunday against the Crusaders..
Posted 13:41 22nd May 2011
spoons says...
Carters game was pleasing after his layoff. Can't wait for the carter V cooper match next week, I'm confident carter will walk all over the pretender Cooper. While i admit Cooper has a few moves he is only half a player cause he can't kick, can't defend, can't secure the ball, can't clean out when needed but he can do a back flip.
@ Trinats, ha ha the Warratahs scored a couple of tries but then held scoreless for an hour against the worst team in Super rugby history. Without Mitchell the Tahs seriously put me to sleep.
Posted 11:36 22nd May 2011
Ramage says...
Yawn
Posted 12:57 21st May 2011
SACanuck says...
Thought drop goals were Booed in NZ? Must be practicing for the WC!
Posted 12:38 21st May 2011