Crusaders to suffocate Hurricanes
SUPER RUGBY SPOTLIGHT: The Crusaders will use their All Black-laden forward pack to limit the Hurricanes’ opportunities out wide on Saturday.
The Crusaders enter the match with 405 Test caps in their pack led by Kieran Read with 109. Samuel Whitelock has 99 and Owen Franks 98. The Hurricanes will have just two international forwards in their starting pack on Saturday – Jeff Toomaga-Allen and Brad Shields with three caps between them.
With the Hurricanes boasting a deadly backline, The Crusaders will look to suffocate their opponents up front in their semifinal showdown in Christchurch.
“Their backline is devasting, so the more pressure we can put on their forward pack and give them [backline] the least quality ball, it is going to help us,” said Read
“I expect them to keep building, they played well last week and they look to be in some pretty good form, so it will be a big game.”
Read knows that his team’s defence out wide will have to be at their very best once again.
“The Hurricanes they use their big ball runners to get them to go forward – they utilise their strength with the Barretts [Beauden and Jordie] running a bit wider.
“We just got to be aware of what they do and maybe sometimes during the game it’s going to come off for them. We have to scramble really well and hopefully limit their opportunities.”
Read added: “There is a confident feel in this group that defence does win these games this time of year, so it’s going to have to be right on the money this week,
“The ‘Canes will offer a few different things to that and we will just be prepared for that. Defence is massive to move forward in this competition.”
By Warren Fortune
@FortuneWarren
@rugby365com
