{"id":372133,"date":"2024-03-02T10:10:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-02T11:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=372133"},"modified":"2024-03-02T13:02:45","modified_gmt":"2024-03-02T13:02:45","slug":"crazy-to-see-crusader-collapse-in-huge-waratahs-upset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=372133","title":{"rendered":"'Crazy to see': Crusader collapse in huge Waratahs upset"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time since 2014, the Crusaders<\/a> have lost the first two matches of the Super Rugby<\/a> season.<\/p>\n

If that result is anything to go by, it's a positive omen for the Waratahs<\/a> who that year won the final against the Crusaders in Sydney.<\/p>\n

The Crusaders dealt the first blow in the Super Round match-up but were outclassed for most of the 80-minute contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Watch all the action from the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season, with<\/strong><\/em> every match ad-free, live and and on demand on Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

After an epic charge-down try by Hugh Sinclair, the Waratahs never relinquished their lead and were almost infallible from there on.<\/p>\n

\"Hugh<\/p>\n

The Crusaders, meanwhile, were messy and lacked cohesion. The absence of star players like Richie Mo'unga and Sam Whitelock was evident at lineout time and at the breakdown.<\/p>\n

"It's frustrating," said David Havili, who kicked the ball that was charged down.<\/p>\n

"Too many knock-ons, too many unforced errors, and we couldn't make any pressure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"'Tahs punished us for that tonight. It's frustrating. We wanted to work on that from last week. Next week is another battle for us."<\/p>\n

It marked just the fourth win for the Waratahs since their Super Rugby final triumph in 2014.<\/p>\n

\"Waratahs<\/p>\n

Stan Sport commentator Sonny Bill Williams noted the absence of Whitelock and Mo'unga, who both left the New Zealand Rugby fold after last year's Rugby World Cup loss to South Africa.<\/p>\n

"You touched on it, so many unforced errors \u2013 bro, it was crazy to see," said Williams.<\/p>\n

"I found that your lineout struggled quite a bit. How is that going and is that simply down to the loss of Sammy Whitelock and Richie Mounga?"<\/p>\n

Havili replied, "I think you'd put it down to those guys. They're world-class.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"We've still got world-class players in our lineout. Scott (Barrett) does a really good job for us there. I think it's just everyone being on the same page and making sure when we get under pressure, we know what to go to. We didn't do that tonight and the Tahs made us pay for it."<\/p>\n

\"Intercept<\/p>\n

The Crusaders were also hurt by the absence of star playmaker Will Jordan, who recently underwent surgery on his shoulder.<\/p>\n

That's just one of a handful of injuries that the Crusaders are managing. With that and the absence of stalwarts, it's a new-look team without its kingpin coach Scott Robertson too.<\/p>\n

"We've had a few injuries but we've got to move forward as a squad and really back the next guy in," said Scott Barrett.<\/p>\n

"We've had a bit of a slow start to this competition and we're hurting at the moment."<\/p>\n

\"Angus<\/p>\n

Waratahs captain Jake Gordon was elated with his team's performance.<\/p>\n

"I thought we were pretty clinical in the first half," he said.<\/p>\n

"We got really good speed of ball and that allowed us to play on top.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"A team like the Crusaders, if you give them time, they're a dangerous team. I thought we did that really well in the first half."<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportRugby\/status\/1763872825209978929<\/a><\/p>\n

The first 20 minutes of the match belonged to the Crusaders who scored just a minute into the match thanks to Macca Springer.<\/p>\n

Sevu Reece scored just shy of the first quarter, but from there it was one-way traffic.<\/p>\n

Hugh Sinclair scored off the back of a charge-down in the 20th minute and Harry Wilson extended their advantage on the stroke of half-time.<\/p>\n

Reece scored his second try of the night seven minutes into the second half before the Tahs went bang bang thanks to a cross-field kick to Triston Reilly in the corner and Gordon's runaway solo effort.<\/p>\n

The Crusaders looked like they might edge their way back into the match after Christian Lio-Willie scored but the Waratahs were resolute in defence to the death.<\/p>\n

The Crusaders will face the Fijian Drua in round three while the Waratahs take on the Highlanders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first time since 2014, the Crusaders have lost the first two matches of the Super Rugby season. If that result is anything to […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":372135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372133"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=372133"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372140,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372133\/revisions\/372140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/372135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=372133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=372133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=372133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}