What has happened to the Crusaders? From a team that looked unbeatable in the first half of this new 'unimproved' competition (more about that in another post) to now one that is spluttering and farting to the finish line. No doubt they will make it but it's not necessarily going to be as many predicted 6 weeks ago - at the top of the leader board .... And on top of the NZ standings.
Yes Dickinson in the Reds game was poor and whistle heavy but this is a team full of super stars - 3 apparently at the top of the honours list in McCaw, Carter and SBW. Against the Reds they looked like a team who had lost a bit of hunger, not the Crusaders who slayed any enemy and animal in their path. And I lay a lot of blame on the coaches. The Crusaders have a team that all NZ S15 coaches envy - e.g they didn't need Dagg - arguably NZs best fullback (Toeava/Smith push him for this....Mils is 5th after Jane) but they still poached him from the Highlanders ( having said that, no doubt he pushed for that himself). With ammunition like that and the best forward pack in the business why then are they losing?
For my money it comes down to coaching. Under Deans, the Crusaders never had the stars like they do with this team but they knew how to play as a team and won as a team.
I certainly hope Todd Blackadder can get this team turned around and playing the way they were at the start of the season - putting Guildford at fullback would be a good start - I thought Marshall made a few tiny but crucial errors today.
At the end of the day - the players are there - now its down to the coaches to get the ship back sailing on the right track.
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