Crusaders get their wish

Crusaders assistant coach Tabai Matson knew where he wanted to head for their Super Rugby semi-final on Saturday and it was not South Africa.

Whereas some Crusaders players hedged their bets on whether they would rather meet the Bulls in Pretoria or the Chiefs in Hamilton, Matson was bullish about his preference.

“You take every week as it comes, but to play the Chiefs up there [Hamilton] is what we wanted,” he said.

Matson believed the two teams knew what to expect from each other in their semi-final showdown at Waikato Stadium on Saturday night. They clashed at the same stage in Hamilton last year with the Chiefs winning, 20-17, then downing the Sharks to claim the Super title for the first time.

“It’s game three and not too much will change,” Matson said. “It will come down to a couple of moments and probably errors unfortunately.”

Unforced errors cost the Crusaders dearly when they lost 28-19 in Hamilton in May, but they were near flawless in overwhelming the Chiefs, 43-15, in their return match in Christchurch earlier this month.

“The [Chiefs] we played here a couple of weeks ago wasn’t the team that we played in Hamilton before. They’ll be a different mob and will be a full force which is going to be exciting.”

Despite the Crusaders’ demolition of the Queensland Reds last Saturday, Matson was not about to go into raptures.

“You could see the Lions tour had taken toll on the Wallabies and I’ll leave it at that. They looked like they were a team on their last legs but we punished them for it.”

Matson said it was important for the Crusaders to be sharp and efficient at the telling end of the season and he thought they were timing it well.

“For us it is about resting the bruised bodies from Saturday and making sure we train well enough to get the top two inches right to have a crack at the [Super] champions.”

The Crusaders have made the semi-finals for the last 12 years but have not taken the title since 2008, a fact not lost on Matson.

“Your legacy is built around how you perform in those last few weeks so this group is fired up for a Chiefs team that have got the better of us over the last couple of seasons. This is the main event for us and we’ve got a massive force waiting for us in Hamilton.”

Article source: http://www.sportal.co.nz/rugby-union-news-display/bulls-have-issues-to-resolve-244868

Crusaders get their wish