Crusaders rout rabble Reds

The Crusaders put down a big marker when they routed a very poor Reds team 57-29 in Brisbane on Sunday.

The Round 13 Super Rugby outing is the first time the Crusaders had scored 50 points or more on Australian soil.

And in-form All Black flyhalf Colin Slade kicked 11 from 11 for the seven-time champions in the record win.

It was also the highest-scoring Super Rugby match ever played at the Suncorp Stadium.

But more importantly it saw the Crusaders move into fourth place on the global standings and second in a very congested New Zealand conference.

It was a 20-minute blitz by the Crusaders in the second half that saw the Reds rooted to bottom of the Australian conference table.

Trailing 16-17 at the break, the Crusaders scored 31 unanswered points in the first 20 minutes after the break to end the game as a contest.

The Crusaders scored five of their six tries in that second half – with wings Johnny McNicholl and Nemani Nadolo getting two tries each.

The Reds eventually salvaged a four-try bonus point, but are still firmly rooted at the bottom of the Aussie conference.

And for the third week in a row the Queensland franchise was badly exposed, overpowered and out-skilled by a Kiwi opponent.

The Reds' play bordered on shambolic at times in the second half, as the Crusaders clinically punished a litany of errors.

The Crusaders' scrum outmuscled the home side and set the platform for the second-half rout.

The Reds showed some promise in an exciting first half, jumping to a 17-10 lead with two sweet backline tries – both coming while the visitors were down a man, with scrumhalf Andy Ellis in the sin bin for repeated infringements by him and his teammates at the breakdown.

However, the Crusaders' second-half rout ended a 20-match run by the Reds of winning home games when leading at half-time.

It was sparked by prop Wyatt Crockett's 43rd minute try, when he caught out lazy defenders from a quick tap.

Two minutes later wing Johnny McNichol crossed for the first of his two tries after a terrible kick and chase by the lethargic Reds.

The Reds were effectively killed off when no players contested a high ball on halfway and No.8 Luke Whitelock sprinted away and the Reds were made to pay for another ridiculous chip-kick when Nemani Nadolo got his second five-pointer.

There's some late razzle-dazzle from the Reds, but again they paid the price for a turnover, as McNicholl got his second five-pointer for the visitors.

Quade Cooper did set up three of the Reds tries, but also delivered a poor second-half display which included an easy try for McNichol.

Man of the match: Israel Dagg made the Reds pay for their sloppy kick-'n-chase work, Johnny McNicholl and Nemani Nadolo deserve a mention for their finishing, if nothing else, Luke Whitelock had one of his better games for some time, Richie McCaw was … well Richie McCaw, involved in lots and in trouble at times. However, our award goes to Crusaders flyhalf Colin Slade – who produced a perfect 11 from 11 with his goal-kicking (six conversions and five penalties), six kicks out of hand (all very effective), 19 passes and making nine runs for 50-odd metres.

The scorers:

For the Reds:

Tries: Taulagi, Shipperley, Davies, Simmons

Cons: Cooper 3

Pen: Cooper

For the Crusaders:

Tries: Nadolo 2, Crockett, McNicholl 2, L Whitelock

Cons: Slade 6

Pens: Slade 5

Yellow card: Andy Ellis (Crusaders, 15 – repeated infringements at the breakdown)

Teams:

Reds: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Anthony Fainga'a, 11 Jamie-Jerry Taulagi, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Beau Robinson, 6 Curtis Browning, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 James Hanson, 1 Ben Daley.

Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Albert Anae, 18 Jono Owen, 19 Ed O'Donoghue, 20 Dave McDuling, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Ben Lucas, 23 Rod Davies.

Crusaders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Ryan Crotty (captain), 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jordan Taufua, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.

Replacements: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Jimmy Tupou, 20 George Whitelock, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Tyler Bleyendaal, 23 Nafi Tuitavake.

Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Rohan Hoffmann (Australia), Damien Mitchelmore (Australia)

TMO: Steve Leszczynski (Australia)