Adversity brings out the best in some people. It will take more than a decent 80 minutes of rugby to rebuild the ruins of central Christchurch but a spectacular win for the Crusaders achieved some important goals in the London sunshine. The occasion not only raised £175,000 in ticket revenue alone to help victims of last month's earthquake but will have done almost as much for the morale of those clearing up the mess.
Last but by no means least this was the day when several fond, smug northern hemisphere assumptions were systematically torn apart. Yes, the weather was glorious and conditions perfect for running rugby. Yes, there were 22 internationals on the field at kick-off. Yes, a few tackles went astray. But long before the Crusaders wing Sean Maitland scored the decisive ninth try of a pulsating match it was equally clear that those who reckon the Super 15 has nothing to teach its European counterparts inhabit the myopic land of cloudy cuckoos.
It is not to denigrate the competitiveness of the Aviva Premiership to suggest the Crusaders, particularly in the first half, played rugby the like of which the English domestic game is not familiar. A more direct comparison is with a cross-border competition like the Heineken Cup but even Leinster, Toulouse, Leicester et al would have been suitably impressed. In terms of attacking running lines it was like being transported in from a distant galaxy.
Candyfloss? Hardly. The Sharks pack averaged almost 18 stone per man. Owen Franks, the All Blacks prop, smashed everything that moved and it was a minor miracle Ryan Kankowski played on after receiving a shoulder hit from Sonny Bill Williams which would have hospitalised most players. Just as striking was the scrummaging venom of the Crusaders' forwards as they splintered an all-Springbok front-row comprising John Smit and the Du Plesis brothers. In such circumstances, the Sharks did well to stay in the contest at all. It is doubtful whether even England's Six Nations winners on home turf would have lasted the pace.
From first to last it amounted to a crusade for positivity. Williams, the king of the offload, was even more impressive at times than he looked against England in November and the entire Crusaders backline buzzed with intent. Orchestrating it all was Dan Carter, who scored 22 points before limping off with a tweaked right hamstring. If British coaches want a microcosm of what a decent 10-12 axis looks like, they should simply watch the fly-half's 21st-minute try, a gloriously slick blur of motion which saw the big Williams give the perfect one-handed scoring pass to his quicksilver team-mate.
The precision-engineered interplay between Andrew Ellis and Robbie Fruean for Israel Dagg's subsequent score was almost as good, a far cry from the own-brand bashing which passes as backline sophistication in certain English clubs. Maybe it would have been a fairer comparison in less spring-like conditions but you suspect the Crusaders would still have adapted accordingly. The Sharks, who were 34-10 down at one stage, had few doubts about the quality heading their way. "That's the best side they've had for a while," said John Plumtree, the Sharks' Kiwi head coach. "They're the benchmark of the competition. Everyone's going to have to lift their game to get up to where they are."
The same, of course, applies to New Zealand's opponents at this autumn's World Cup. British administrators will also be wearing quizzical expressions this morning. This was supposed to be the weekend the Premiership and the Magners League wrested back the baton from their Six Nations counterparts. Nor does it take a genius to imagine more Super Rugby being staged in the north, with over 35,000 tickets sold in barely a fortnight. "Today had a little bit of everything," said the Crusaders' coach Todd Blackadder. "I'd like to think it could happen again. I thought it was just superb. It was just a wee taste of what our competition is like."
Just to rub it in, Blackadder said his team would be "disappointed with a lot of that second half", having seen the Sharks mount a stout fightback on the back of two tries in three minutes by Alistair Hargreaves and Odwa Ndungane. With 28 minutes left they trailed by just nine points at 37-28, finished off only when Zac Guildford's neat pass sent Maitland in for his second try.
Any other result would have been immensely harsh on the likes of Matt Todd, the Crusaders flanker who turned 23 over the weekend. Richie McCaw is a tough act to follow but Todd is already having a good stab at it. It is New Zealand rugby's speciality to produce barely heralded players who would walk into most Six Nations sides. Nor does it matter much what country they happen to be playing in. The next stop for the Crusaders is Timaru in a fortnight's time. Trust me, this is a travelling circus worth watching. They are welcome back in Britain any time.
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