VIDEO: Crusaders brace for Lions' maul
SUPER RUGBY SPOTLIGHT: The Crusaders know that the Lions will give them a tougher challenge up front in this weekend’s Super Rugby Final in Christchurch.
The Crusaders earned their spot in the Final in emphatic fashion with a 30-12 win over the Hurricanes in their semifinal.
The Christchurch team’s their powerful All Black-laded forward pack laid the platform for victory in that match. However, Crusaders loose forward Matt Todd knows that the Lions are a different prospect up front.
“They [Lions] are going to be a massive challenge this week,” said Todd. “Their forward pack is very impressive as well and they get a lot of momentum through them.
“We know we got to do it again this week. We are in the final and that is where we want to be, so we are going to prepare well and make sure that come Saturday we are ready to put in another big performance.”
The Crusaders will be aware of the Lions’ powerful driving maul and the damage it can do in the strike zone.
“It is a real weapon of theirs and I’m not sure how many tries they scored from it this year, but it is a lot. Certainly, at the weekend they got a couple of crucial tries [against the Waratahs].
“It is a real momentum changer for them not just in terms of tries but I guess also getting them field position when they are under the pump a little bit.
“At the start of that game they turned to their maul to get momentum back, so it is certainly an area we will put a lot of time into this week and we will have to be good there on the weekend,” said Todd.
He added: “We got experienced guys up there that know how to do the job, it is just making sure we got the right plan, and everyone is clear on that plan.
“You’ve got to try and stop it [maul] before it gets set up. First of all, we can’t give them opportunities to get the maul set up, especially down our end and we just need the urgency to get in and nullify it.”
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