Great White fears the Crusaders

23 July 2014 - 02:01 By Khanyiso Tshwaku
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Richie McCaw has been rough-and-tumbling with his dog
Richie McCaw has been rough-and-tumbling with his dog

It is not unusual for coaches to punt home teams as favourites, especially when the dice is loaded against the travelling team, which is often the case in Super rugby play-offs.

The fact is, New Zealand sides have not lost to South African or Australian opposition in a home Super rugby semifinal.

The 1999 final, where the Crusaders beat the Highlanders 24-19 in Dunedin, was the last instance of the home team in New Zealand losing a Super rugby play-off against any opposition.

So it makes sense for Sharks director of rugby Jake White to install the Crusaders as firm favourites for Saturday's semifinal.

It will be a tough task for the Sharks, even though they beat the Crusaders at home in the regular season, as the latter have never lost a home semifinal.

In recent years, the Crusaders have had a wretched semifinal return, having won only one of the past five - a 29-10 win against the Stormers in Cape Town. All their semifinals between 2009 and last year have been on the road.

"There is no doubt that they are favourites," White said. "They are playing at home and they have guys who have continually played in play-off rugby and they have World Cup winners in their team.

"We still believe we are good enough but on the other hand we are realists. They have won championships with these guys and they are playing in a home semifinal for the first time in a very long time. They must be firm favourites to get a win here."

The Crusaders will be able to roll out their big guns in Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Dan Carter and Corey Flynn. McCaw and Flynn will be competing in their umpteenth playoff, having also taken part in the 2002 semifinal against the Highlanders after the Crusaders missed out the year before.

If there is some confidence the Sharks can take into the game, it's the fact they beat the Crusaders even though they had McCaw in the No7 jersey. With Read and Carter back, they are a transformed unit, something White grudgingly admitted.

"They have had a week off, which will make them very fresh and they will have prepared accordingly," he said. "They have some seriously great players back and I have no doubt they will be a far better team than the one we faced in the middle of the season."

The Sharks showed excellent defensive discipline after Jean Deysel was sent off in their 30-25 win on May 17, where they limited the Crusaders to one try. But at times during the season it was shown to be vulnerable.

White was quick to mention that his defensive system is one of the best in the tournament, but he also added that they will not be shifting much from what worked for them in the regular season.

TV Highlights

Today

Athletics: IAAF World Junior Champs at 6.50pm on SS2 and 2.20am (tomorrow) on SS6

Commonwealth Games: Glasgow, opening ceremony at 10pm on SABC2/SS5

Cycling: Tour de France, stage 17 at 1.20pm on SS2

Soccer: Friendlies, Toronto vs Tottenham at 1am (tomorrow) on SS3, Liverpool vs Roma at 1.30am on SS7, Kansas City vs Man City at 3am on SS3, LA Galaxy vs Man United at 5am on SS3

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