Colin Slade shows Spencer how it's done

DEAN KOZANIC/The Press

PIVOTAL MOVE: Colin Slade will wear the Canterbury No10 jersey this season.

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There was something Carlos Spencer-esque about Colin Slade's audacious 50-metre penalty goal on Saturday night.

Struggling to mount the ball on his tee in the second half, first five-eighth Slade was given a hurry-up when referee Garratt Williamson told him he had just 10 seconds remaining to complete his mission.

Slade immediately plonked the ball on its castle, took a few rapid steps back and hoofed the shot which pushed his side out to a 25-16 lead.

Former All Black Spencer, who took the field as a replacement first five-eighth for the Lions in the 42nd minute, should have appreciated the deed because such unpredictable antics were all part of his repertoire in its prime.

"It was just a spur of the moment thing. I just tried to kick it and it came out all right didn't it?" Slade said afterwards.

Although he has never had to hurry kicks before to satisfy a referee, Slade is comfortable kicking from a distance and at training – and with a "little breeze behind me" – can knock goals over from up to 60m.

"I practise the long ones but probably not with the urgency I needed that time. It was basically the same routine, just speeding it up a little bit more and giving it a kick.

"Certainly, with 10 seconds to go there was no time to think and it was just about reactions really."

Given a rare start ahead of All Blacks star Dan Carter, Slade kicked eight of his 10 shots to reap a 21-point haul and admitted the Crusaders were annoyed by their own high error rate and the Lions' ability to deny them possession.

"It was certainly frustrating and we were giving away a lot of penalties which was keeping them in the game and they were getting their tails up.

"We knew we could score if we could get the ball and hold on to it, so that was the issue going into halftime."

The coaches' halftime instructions were not for the meek and there was some brevity in their delivery as the Crusaders returned to the field well ahead of their opponents.

"There were stern words, certainly," Slade added.

"But there was not a lot to be said, just get back out there and play like we are trained to play. And we certainly don't train to play without the ball."

For Spencer, who not surprisingly was booed upon his first return to Christchurch's AMI Stadium since he infamously taunted the crowd with the Blues in 2004, it was no night to remember. One poor pass directly led to Sean Maitland's second try.

Later Spencer, 34, admitted that playing for a side that has lost all six matches was tough to cop.

"I still love to win and we're not winning at the moment so rugby's not that enjoyable ... we just need a win."

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