Preview: Crusaders v Lions

SUPER RUGBY FINAL: The Crusaders are overwhelming favourites. They should cancel the match and award the trophy to the Crusaders right now.

These are just a couple of the declarations made ahead of the encounter between the eight-time champions Crusaders and the Lions in Christchurch on Saturday.

The home team – hosting a Final in Christchurch for the first time in 10 years – have tried their best to play down their favourites tag.

The Lions, desperate to end a 25-year wait for a second Super title (following their Super 10 win in 1993), are also not buying into the hype and propaganda that their just ‘lambs to the slaughter’.

“This is why you play the game, for opportunities like this,” Lions captain Warren Whiteley said.

Crusaders assistant coach Brad Mooar took a swipe at those being dismissive of the Lions, pointing out they are “not involved in the contest”.

“They’ve earnt their position in the final,” Mooar, which a rich history of coaching South Africa, said.

“Swys de Bruin, I really respect as a coach,” Mooar said of the Lions mentor.

“He’s carried on a culture from Johan Ackermann, which you can clearly see has carried on, but he’s putting in his own flavour to that settled group,” he said.

“It’s their third Final in a row, their second in New Zealand, and I’m sure they’ve delved back into their trip – when they took on the Hurricanes a couple of years ago – to work out what they thought worked well there and try to put together a plan to beat us here.

“It’s a really exciting week to prepare for,” Mooar added.

The Lions skipper, Whiteley, spoke of patience.

With the Lions heading into their third successive Final, Whiteley feels the players know what to expect.

“The biggest thing is the continuity we had over the last few years,” the No.8 said, adding: “It is unheard of, in South African rugby, to keep a team together for so long.

“It is a testament to the culture we have. The guys want to stay, they want to be together – we just love what we do.”

Whiteley spoke of the “huge respect” they have for the Crusaders and what the New Zealand franchise stands for.

“They always stand tall and is a team everybody has learnt a lot from.”

He described as “the toughest challenge in Super Rugby” the task of taking on the Crusaders in their own backyard.

Players to watch:

For the Crusaders: You need to watch all 23 in the matchday squad. However, it is that All Black-laden pack – with the likes of Kieran Read, Matt Todd, Sam Whitelock (as captain) and Scott Barrett that usually causes the most damage.

For the Lions: You start with Malcolm Marx, arguably the premier hooker in the world – especially his powerful carries and ability to win turnovers at the breakdown. Not far behind is lock Franco Mostert, for his amazing workrate, along with flanks Cyle Combrink and Albertus Smith.

Head to head: There are intriguing clashes all over the park. However, the most decisive will be at flyhalf (or first five-eighth) – between one-time All Black Richie Mo’unga (Crusaders) and Springbok regular Elton Jantjies (Lions). An equally intriguing battle will be at No.6 – where All Black captain Kieran Read (Crusaders) is up against Warren Whiteley (Lions), who captained the Springboks before injury struck him down in 2017.

Prediction: This game will mark the first time in Super Rugby history that consecutive Finals have been contested by the same teams, with the Crusaders pulling off a 25-17 win over the Lions in the 2017 edition. The Crusaders have won nine of their last 10 games against the Lions, including their last two on the bounce; however, each of their last three wins against them has come by a margin of no greater than eight points. The Crusaders have won their last 14 games on the bounce, the last time they won more was a 16-game streak from April 2005 to April 2006. The Lions have scored 87 tries this season, more than any other team in the competition but just one more than the Crusaders (86). Matt Todd made 21 tackles last round, the most of any player in the semifinals; he’s now made 179 tackles for the season, which is the most of any Crusaders player. The Crusaders are certainly favourites and while it may be close that most pundits expect, the home team should win by eight points.

All Black coach, Steve Hansen had this to say about the Vodacom Super Rugby final this Saturday. Huge respect sir.#LetsUnite #CRUvLIO #Final80Minutes pic.twitter.com/rllSOXweMs

— Emirates Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) August 1, 2018

Teams:

Crusaders: 15. David Havili, 14 Seta Tamanivalu, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 George Bridge, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Matt Todd, 6 Heiden Bedwell-Curtis, 5 Sam Whitelock (captain), 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody.
Replacements: 16 Sam Anderson-Heather, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Michael Alaalatoa, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 Mitchell Hunt, 23 Braydon Ennor.

Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrink, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Albertus Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Marvin Orie, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques Van Rooyen.
Replacements: 16 Corne Fourie, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Marnus Schoeman, 21 Dillon Smit, 22 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 23 Howard Mnisi.

Date: Saturday, August 4
Venue: AMI Stadium, Christchurch.
Kick-off: 19.35 (09.35 SA time; 07.35 GMT)
Expected weather: The prediction is for ‘some sun’, then turning cloudy. It is Christchurch in winter. Expect some rain. High of 11°C and a low of 4°C
Referee: Angus Gardner
Assistant referees: Glen Jackson, Nic Berry
TMO: Shane McDermott

Compiled by Jan de Koning
@king365ed
@rugby365com

* Statistics provided by Opta Sports