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Comment: Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town - There are some pretty unruly beards amidst the Crusaders’ front five, and especially their front row ... but together they threaten hairy moments for Stormers counterparts in the Vodacom Super Rugby semi-final at Newlands next Saturday.
The sturdiness, and that is perhaps putting it mildly, of their set scrum has frequently been a key device in assuring the New Zealanders of broad front-foot thrust this season - it was evident once more as the seven-times champions proved significantly too hot for the Sharks to handle in their playoff encounter at Nelson.
Clearly the Sharks were labouring more and more, as the game wore on, from the effects of their long-haul journey, and the big challenge for the Crusaders now will be to overcome the debilitating obstacle of doing the great trek in reverse themselves for the semi at a full-house Newlands.
But whether it also knocks the stuffing out of the Cantabrians’ set-piece remains to be seen ... on Saturday, against a Springbok-laden Sharks front row considered arguably the best our country can offer, the Crusaders enjoyed obvious scrumming supremacy and it went a long way to ensuring the comfort of their passage past the mostly impotent visitors.
There was some unacceptable leeway from referee Bryce Lawrence at times for early engagements by the hosts, and at one point he bizarrely penalised a bemused Beast Mtawarira for “dangerous” conduct as the rival eights packed down.
Let it be said, too, that the Sharks did not retreat at scrum-time quite as humiliatingly as had occurred when the sides met in a much more high-quality match at Twickenham much earlier in the campaign.
There were even one or two occasions, especially after John Smit replaced Bismarck du Plessis at hooker in the 61st minute, when the Sharks got a fair old shove on themselves, but by then the horse had bolted and the Crusaders, in particular, were pulling off most valued players at will to preserve them for what lies ahead.
On the whole, however, the Crusaders could claim clear supremacy at Trafalgar Park in this department, with generously-bearded customers like the Franks brothers, Owen and second-half substitute Ben, and hooker Corey Flynn so obviously instrumental.
All are relatively short, bandy, low-centre-of-gravity scrummagers who appear to revel against heavier, taller opponents in the front row, as was certainly the case against the Sharks’ starting alliance of Mtawarira and the Du Plessis siblings.
These Crusaders powerhouses have played second fiddle to virtually nobody in 2011, with the slightly more clean-shaven Wyatt Crockett on the loosehead side and earthy, veteran second-rower Brad Thorn also known important elements to the highly successful shoving formula.
When Flynn and Owen Franks were hauled off simultaneously, reasonably late in the Sharks game, it was as if all wild boars could breathe again because the scary-looking cavemen were taking a break from their hunting.
The Stormers are an improving unit in the scrums, but still more in a “hold their own” capacity against most foes than as genuine dominators - and all but the most one-eyed of Stormers fans will be quietly fearing for the Capetonians’ well-being here, come the huge match-up on Saturday.
One small comfort, maybe, is that their own first-choice front row at present of Wicus Blaauw, Tiaan Liebenberg and Brok Harris amount to slightly less “skyscraper” material than the Sharks combo, and reserve hooker Deon Fourie (only 1.77m, which makes him well smaller than all of the Crusaders front-rankers) also fits into the “nuggety” category.
Whisper it softly, but might it even make Fourie a secret, countering weapon in the semi?
Statistically, the Crusaders have no special reason to fear their visit to Newlands: they won at the ground only a few weeks ago and have, in fact, won four of the eight meetings in total there against the Stormers.
They also emerged 27-16 victors in the only prior knockout-phase encounter between the two, the semi-final of 2004, albeit in Christchurch on that occasion.
All Stormers v Crusaders meetings in Cape Town:
2011: Stormers 14 Crusaders 20
2010: Stormers 42 Crusaders 14
2008: Stormers 0 Crusaders 22
2006: Stormers 28 Crusaders 17
2005: Stormers 23 Crusaders 51
2003: Stormers 13 Crusaders 51
2001: Stormers 49 Crusaders 28
1999: Stormers 28 Crusaders 19
Cape Town - There are some pretty unruly beards amidst the Crusaders’ front five, and especially their front row ... but together they threaten hairy moments for Stormers counterparts in the Vodacom Super Rugby semi-final at Newlands next Saturday.
The sturdiness, and that is perhaps putting it mildly, of their set scrum has frequently been a key device in assuring the New Zealanders of broad front-foot thrust this season - it was evident once more as the seven-times champions proved significantly too hot for the Sharks to handle in their playoff encounter at Nelson.
Clearly the Sharks were labouring more and more, as the game wore on, from the effects of their long-haul journey, and the big challenge for the Crusaders now will be to overcome the debilitating obstacle of doing the great trek in reverse themselves for the semi at a full-house Newlands.
But whether it also knocks the stuffing out of the Cantabrians’ set-piece remains to be seen ... on Saturday, against a Springbok-laden Sharks front row considered arguably the best our country can offer, the Crusaders enjoyed obvious scrumming supremacy and it went a long way to ensuring the comfort of their passage past the mostly impotent visitors.
There was some unacceptable leeway from referee Bryce Lawrence at times for early engagements by the hosts, and at one point he bizarrely penalised a bemused Beast Mtawarira for “dangerous” conduct as the rival eights packed down.
Let it be said, too, that the Sharks did not retreat at scrum-time quite as humiliatingly as had occurred when the sides met in a much more high-quality match at Twickenham much earlier in the campaign.
There were even one or two occasions, especially after John Smit replaced Bismarck du Plessis at hooker in the 61st minute, when the Sharks got a fair old shove on themselves, but by then the horse had bolted and the Crusaders, in particular, were pulling off most valued players at will to preserve them for what lies ahead.
On the whole, however, the Crusaders could claim clear supremacy at Trafalgar Park in this department, with generously-bearded customers like the Franks brothers, Owen and second-half substitute Ben, and hooker Corey Flynn so obviously instrumental.
All are relatively short, bandy, low-centre-of-gravity scrummagers who appear to revel against heavier, taller opponents in the front row, as was certainly the case against the Sharks’ starting alliance of Mtawarira and the Du Plessis siblings.
These Crusaders powerhouses have played second fiddle to virtually nobody in 2011, with the slightly more clean-shaven Wyatt Crockett on the loosehead side and earthy, veteran second-rower Brad Thorn also known important elements to the highly successful shoving formula.
When Flynn and Owen Franks were hauled off simultaneously, reasonably late in the Sharks game, it was as if all wild boars could breathe again because the scary-looking cavemen were taking a break from their hunting.
The Stormers are an improving unit in the scrums, but still more in a “hold their own” capacity against most foes than as genuine dominators - and all but the most one-eyed of Stormers fans will be quietly fearing for the Capetonians’ well-being here, come the huge match-up on Saturday.
One small comfort, maybe, is that their own first-choice front row at present of Wicus Blaauw, Tiaan Liebenberg and Brok Harris amount to slightly less “skyscraper” material than the Sharks combo, and reserve hooker Deon Fourie (only 1.77m, which makes him well smaller than all of the Crusaders front-rankers) also fits into the “nuggety” category.
Whisper it softly, but might it even make Fourie a secret, countering weapon in the semi?
Statistically, the Crusaders have no special reason to fear their visit to Newlands: they won at the ground only a few weeks ago and have, in fact, won four of the eight meetings in total there against the Stormers.
They also emerged 27-16 victors in the only prior knockout-phase encounter between the two, the semi-final of 2004, albeit in Christchurch on that occasion.
All Stormers v Crusaders meetings in Cape Town:
2011: Stormers 14 Crusaders 20
2010: Stormers 42 Crusaders 14
2008: Stormers 0 Crusaders 22
2006: Stormers 28 Crusaders 17
2005: Stormers 23 Crusaders 51
2003: Stormers 13 Crusaders 51
2001: Stormers 49 Crusaders 28
1999: Stormers 28 Crusaders 19
