VIDEO: 'It is all on' in Christchurch
SUPER RUGBY SPOTLIGHT: It is one-all this year between the Crusaders and Hurricanes. On Saturday they get to ‘settle the matter’ in a Super Rugby play-off match.
The Hurricanes won 29-19 in their first encounter in Wellington back in March.
The Crusaders recorded a 24-13 win in the return fixture in Christchurch back in May.
Crusaders assistant coach Brad Mooar admitted they will have to raise the bar considerably in this coming Saturday’s semifinal showdown.
“Our memories are well enough to remember the Wellington game, what we did and didn’t achieve there,” Mooar said of the March 10 encounter.
“We turned that around in Christchurch [on May 25] and put on a pretty clinical performance.
“That won’t be enough this time.”
He said the Crusaders will have to be at their best.
Mooar added that the two teams are very familiar with each other and it will make for an intriguing encounter.
“They know us, we know them pretty well,” he said, adding: “Over a period of two to three years we played each other a lot.
“Then they [the players] will play together for the All Blacks or Maori All Blacks.
“We know the teams, we know the coaches and we know the players.
“It is all on.
“We realise we need to get better every day or it will be the end of our season.”
Mooar spoke of the ‘mutual respect’ the team have.
“We got things right in a lot of cases for the Sharks game,” he said of last Saturday’s 40-10 win.
“We know there is a lot we need to work on and be better at for the Hurricanes.”
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