Canes' opposition will need 'A' game
Speaking after his side's 9-25 semifinal loss to the Hurricanes, added that the team who travels to Wellington will have a tough task ahead of them.
"The Hurricanes are a tough team to roll at home and whoever comes here [for the Final] is going to have a tough job, they will have to bring their 'A' game with them to try and test the Canes," Cruden said.
Cruden was left disappointed that they let the Hurricanes off the hook in crucial areas of the match but he remained immensely proud of the effort his team put in.
"We came down here [to Wellington] confident after the quarterfinal performance and unfortunately we just didn't front up in enough areas. We have to give credit to the Hurricanes, they defended really well, applied a lot of pressure in crucial moments and were sharper than us.
"The mistakes inside their 22 tells a story, a couple of bounces never went our way and we dropped balls that we have been catching all year. That just released the pressure valve and we weren't able to score the points we needed.
"We are extremely disappointed [with the result] but pretty proud of getting into the semifinals. I think our boys can hold their heads up because we played the full 80 minutes. This young group of guys have had their highs and lows this season but we stayed connected and tight. For such a young group, we will be better going forward.
"A lot of young guys will learn, grow and hopefully we will be a lot better for it," he added.
