Intense Super feast for locals

PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON PATRICK HAMILTON

Blues lock Kurtis Haiu is dragged down.

Crusaders number 10 Dan Carter takes a big hit

Crusaders halfback Andy Ellis fights his way to the try line despite strong Blues resistance.

Crusaders halfback Andy Ellis spots an opening.

Blues halfback Alby Mathewson gets his clearing kick away in front of Crusaders Ti'i Paulo and Sam Whitelock.

Both sides chase down a loose ball.

Cheerleaders entertain at half time.

Cheerleaders entertain at half time.

Crusaders halfback Willie Heinz flips the ball back from a scrum.

Crusaders Andy Ellis and Thomas Waldrom close in on Benson Stanley.

Blues wing Joe Rokocoko loses his footing.

Crusaders no 18 Kieran Read gets to the line to score a first half try.

Dan Carter on the loose.

TheRugby Park crowd were on their feet to celebrate the first Crusaders try.

Crusaders horsemen salute the crowd.

Ball girl for the day, eleven year old Meg Taylor of Nelson, waves to the crowd as she arrives with Chris Jack.

A "Mexican Wave" gets started in the crowd during the Blues vs Crusaders match.

Motueka nine year olds Alana Inglis Beckett (left) and Brooklyn Ballantyne show their colours.

Motueka rugby fans Christopher Hendrickson, 12, Joshua Wilson, 11, Hayden Scott, 12, and Boe Wratten-Westrup, 11 (right) get ready for the big match.

The Hughes brothers of Motueka; Zac, 6, Jaydin, 9, and Levi, 5 (right), during the Blues vs Crusaders match at Rugby Park in Motueka.

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The locals got their desired result and Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder certainly got the response from his players that he asked for.

The Crusaders lifted themselves to a 21-12 pre-season Super 14 rugby win over the Blues at Sports Park Motueka yesterday – a significant step up from the previous week's 20-12 loss to the Reds in Brisbane.

Blackadder conceded as much.

"Compared to last week, I thought we made a lot of strides in a lot of areas," he said.

"Last week we lost a lot of ball and I thought particularly in that first half [yesterday] we held our structures. There's still a little bit of rustiness out there, of course, but it was the first hit-out for a lot of guys and I was really pleased that we came through the game with no injuries."

The game was played in an opening 40-minute half followed by two 20-minute quarters, with the Crusaders producing all their point-scoring in the first 40-minute spell.

Tries to halfback Andy Ellis, flanker Kieran Read and finally to first five-eighth Dan Carter right on the break, all converted by Carter, helped push the Crusaders to a deserved 21-5 halftime lead.

Winger Joe Rokocoko scored the Blues' first-half try to cut the Crusaders' early lead to 7-5, with the Blues' other winger, Rene Ranger, scoring the only second half try, converted by former Cantabrian Stephen Brett.

The Crusaders were well worth their halftime lead as both teams showed positive intent with the ball. The Crusaders showed better attacking rhythm during the first half but were cast in a more defensive role during the second as players from both sides continued to put in some big defensive hits.

"Everyone's got a little bit more used to the intensity and the physicality of what's to be expected next week. So all in all I'm really pleased and we still made the changes to look after a few guys to keep them fresh for next week and I thought the guys out there were really Crusaderish," said Blackadder.

"I thought there was some really good physicality in that second half. There were some massive hits, and I suppose that comes from not having the ball.

"I'm really pleased that we can put our pre-season behind us now and look forward to next week."

The breakdowns and tackled ball areas inevitably attracted the highest penalty count, with referee Chris Pollock also attracting abuse from the crowd after he sinbinned Crusaders and Tasman Makos' prop Ben Franks midway through the first half for a restart infringement.

However, Pollock found an unlikely supporter in Blackadder – particularly with regard to his strict policing at the breakdowns.

"I'm actually quite pleased," Blackadder said. "If anything, I thought it was quite good he was a little bit hard on us. Last week we probably didn't feel like we'd probably been refereed in the new tackle area like we'd been focusing on – and we've got Chris Pollock next week. So if anything, it'll be good because our players will learn and they'll adjust."

Blackadder praised the efforts of his midfielders Adam Whitelock and Robbie Fruean who were both forced to play 80 minutes due to injuries to other players.

They enjoyed Carter's guiding hand for the 50-odd minutes he was on the field, although his replacement, Colin Slade, showed more of an eye for the gap with some penetrative running.

Kieran Read brings intensity to any contest, irrespective of what stage of the season it is, and scored with his first touch of the ball just moments after replacing Joe Wheeler in the 30th minute.

It was a significant day for Blues' replacement first five-eighth Stephen Brett – the first time he'd taken the field against his former Crusaders and Canterbury team-mates.

"It's good to have that bogey off my back now," Brett said, after a steady second-half performance which included one clean breach of the Crusaders' defence.

"Now I concentrate on playing against other teams. It was always going to be tough playing against your old teammates. I just had to make sure I was staying away from the late hits."

After previous wins over the Hurricanes and Chiefs, Blues coach Pat Lam expected the Crusaders to be a tougher proposition in their own back yard.

"It was a good hit-out, we knew it'd be another step up," Lam said.

"We showed that when we can build pressure, our game's okay but it's about concentrating as individuals – little things. But it was a good hit-out for us going into next week.

"It was definitely a step up from what we've had and and the big thing today was, we achieved our objectives of getting our All Blacks some game time as they build into it to hopefully get some rust out of them.

"But, no, there were some good things I was pretty happy with and obviously some things we've definitely got to work on."

The Crusaders open their Super 14 campaign against the Highlanders in Christchurch next Saturday, while the Blues take on the Hurricanes in Albany next Friday.

Crusaders 21 (Andy Ellis, Kieran Read, Dan Carter tries, Carter 3 cons) Blues 12 (Joe Rokococko, Rene Ranger tries, Stephen Brett con) HT 21-5.

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