How two rugby truths played out in Dublin and Christchurch
Two rugby truths were confirmed over the weekend in two thrilling but contrasting four-point victories on either side of the world.
The first, which played out early Saturday morning Australian time, was that the British & Irish Lions series with the Wallabies is anything but a foregone conclusion, that anyone who thought the visitors would come down and sweep the Wallabies 3-0 in a canter, ought to review their pre-tour predictions.
The second? That the Crusaders remain the greatest rugby outfit on planet earth, and one of the most complete sporting organisations this century, such has been their consistent dominance of Super Rugby – no matter which format it is in.
The Crusaders’ numbers speak for themselves: Saturday night’s 16-12 win over the Chiefs secured their 11th title since 2000 and 13th overall. The board’s decision not to sack Rob Penney at the end of 2024 proved a masterstroke, while few four-point wins have been as dominant as the one they recorded in what was their final playoffs match at Apollo Projects Stadium.
Many a pundit had last week been fooled into tipping a Chiefs victory – the minor premiers had, after all, topped the ladder after the regular season – but their slip-up against the Blues a fortnight ago may as well have been a terminal result, as no-one goes to Christchurch in the postseason and wins.
A now 32-0 finals record tells you.
But back to Dublin, where the Lions were beaten 28-24 by Argentina in an absorbing contest at Aviva Stadium.
This obviously isn’t the team that will line up against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19; far from it, in fact. But the four-point defeat underscored the challenges that Lions coach Andy Farrell has in bringing players from four different nations together, each with their unique skill sets, strengths and weaknesses, and transforming them into something greater than the sum of their individual parts.
The Lions will get better, no doubt, and the team that runs out against the Western Force this weekend will be near unrecognisable from the one that lost to the Pumas. But there still should have been enough quality to sink a Pumas side that also has players scattered across the globe – and had similarly limited preparation.
A comprehensive win for the Lions in Dublin would have caused a stir in Wallabies camp, the four-point defeat will have only added to the belief that a series win is not beyond them, no matter how much coach Joe Schmidt tries to temper public expectations.
In what style the three-Test showdown is played remains to be seen, and the conditions could differ in all three Australian locations let alone compare with those in Christchurch, but the game the Crusaders used to grind the Chiefs into the ground was Test-match standard.
Dominate at set-piece; kick high and accurately, with the chase to match; and nail your penalty goals when they’re on offer. The Crusaders suffocated the Chiefs, particularly in the second half, and despite being outscored two tries to one, their wafer-thin second-half margin, which was only extended in the 72nd minute, never appeared threatened.
The Super Rugby Pacific Grand Final may have been short on entertainment compared with its fast, open and exhilarating regular season, but it was a lesson in how to win a high-pressure game, when the ultimate prize is on offer; the Wallabies and Lions will fight out the Tom Richards Trophy over three Tests, but the message from Christchurch should still ring true.
And so the Crusaders, one year after finishing ninth, are back on top in the southern hemisphere, at least in its Pacific corner anyway. Penney may as well have been closing a show for Michael Jackson such was Scott Robertson‘s record in Christchurch, yet 12 months on from when he was so close to exiting stage-left, it is the 61-year-old dancing to the drum of his own beat.
Are they the best club team in the world? That question remains unanswered for now, but perhaps the Club World Cup, which seemingly has conditional approval, can settle that in 2028.
That is still three seasons away, but such is their title strike rate it’s hard to see how the Crusaders won’t figure in the dying stages of that tournament, if or when it is ever given the green light.
For no other rugby franchise, nor club, can boast of their incredible achievements since the turn of the century – that is a cold hard rugby truth.
So too is the fact that the Lions have won just one series since 1997 — albeit in Australia in 2013.
Do they deserve to be series favourites against the Wallabies? Undoubtedly. But their performance in Dublin was nowhere near that of a team poised to sweep a three-Test series on the other side of the world.
Lions centre Bundee Aki revealed coach Andy Farrell had set his side the challenge of winning every one of their 10 games. That goal has already gone up in smoke – the idea that a 3-0 series win over Australia is a fait-accompli with it.
Source: espn.com