Crusaders Back to Their Winning Ways

The Crusaders returned to form tonight in front of the hometown faithful, triumphing over the Reds by 33-22. The Crusaders snagged a bonus point which may serve them well in the weeks to come. One always had the impression that the Crusaders were unlucky against the Blues, having had the game presented to them on a platter by an at times wayward Blues gameplan that has become a hallmark of that team in recent years...However, this victory may see a return to winning form for the Crusaders, and certainly this team will count these 5 competition points without their All Blacks as especially sweet.

The Reds did push hard, but few would have backed them to take out the Crusaders at home. It was close until near the end, with the Crusaders holding only a two point margin with little time to go. A final try added the difference and pushed out the victory to a more respectable margin than it might otherwise have been. More importantly the Reds have been denied a bonus point in the course of this loss, losing by more than 7 and failing to score 4 tries. Schifkofske kept them in the game with his boot, however kicking is not normally enough to beat the Crusaders at home....

Let the games go on!