The Crusaders were so comprehensively thumped, you'd be forgiven for thinking that they were an Australian side.

Am I allowed to say, I a Canes man, and really like the way Love is playing, but regardless, I would be picking DMac at 10 in first test. He has been bloody exceptional last couple of weeks.
Also thought Chiefs midfield was bloody good, and MOTM was for me between DMac, Luke Jacobson (geez he was also real ggod) and Quinn T.

@Dan54 said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

Am I allowed to say, I a Canes man, and really like the way Love is playing, but regardless, I would be picking DMac at 10 in first test. He has been bloody exceptional last couple of weeks.
Also thought Chiefs midfield was bloody good, and MOTM was for me between DMac, Luke Jacobson (geez he was also real ggod) and Quinn T.

G-God! I think we have a new expression...

@Mattasaurus said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

the amount of times Jacobson gets away with slowing the ball down in illegal positions is quite impressive... just not sure that he would get away with it at international level

"If you're not cheating you're not trying hard enough".

@kidcalder and while in motion, makes it much harder to defend than the static tripe we've come used to seeing.

Well done the Chiefs just too good for The Crusaders, a good thing for the competition a new champion this year
I had the feeling we had hit our ceiling at Semi Final time, a lot of key injuries and we were too inconsistent.

Should be a cracking Final next week, As a Crusader supporter I don't know who to cheer for.
The Chiefs fourth Final and could lose again that would be pretty hard for Chiefs fans to stomach or The Canes who are playing some Awesome Rugby great to watch, I just Can't see the Blues getting into the Final.

Up the Wahs

Well done Chiefs. Haven’t seen all of the game, as somehow my phone ended up on the other side of the tram when the score was 28-0!…..

After we stuffed up that break by Fihaki early on and then Chiefs scored their first just minutes later, I had this bad feeling about this game. Just can’t give a good side like the Chiefs especially on their ground, any small opening. After that first try they dominated.

@Chris said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

Well done the Chiefs just too good for The Crusaders, a good thing for the competition a new champion this year
I had the feeling we had hit our ceiling at Semi Final time, a lot of key injuries and we were too inconsistent.

Should be a cracking Final next week, As a Crusader supporter I don't know who to cheer for.

Captain Killjoy reporting for duty: I realise that injuries and a mahoosive lead contributed, but that second half would not inspire confidence going against the current form of the Canes. Last night's first half had every line defeating a limp attempt at tackling, every pass sticking and every bounce of the ball favouring the Chiefs. I can't see that amount of luck and execution happening again next week.

I'd laugh if it did though.

@Chris-B. Always thought it might be a bridge to far without the likes of Jordon ,Williams and Barrett
Those first few handling errors set the tone unfortunately
I do wonder if all those recent home derbys without rotation eventually took its toll

Although the Chiefs were pretty ruthless both sides of the ball
Sorry to see the likes of Sevu Reece leaving NZ rugby will give the man his dues he always gives 110% for the Crusaders
His skill level and footwork at times is outrageous

Congrats to D Mac on 150 x games

@antipodean said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

@Chris said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

Well done the Chiefs just too good for The Crusaders, a good thing for the competition a new champion this year
I had the feeling we had hit our ceiling at Semi Final time, a lot of key injuries and we were too inconsistent.

Should be a cracking Final next week, As a Crusader supporter I don't know who to cheer for.

Captain Killjoy reporting for duty: I realise that injuries and a mahoosive lead contributed, but that second half would not inspire confidence going against the current form of the Canes. Last night's first half had every line defeating a limp attempt at tackling, every pass sticking and every bounce of the ball favouring the Chiefs. I can't see that amount of luck and execution happening again next week.

I'd laugh if it did though.

I think that second half could help the Chiefs as it brought them back down to earth and they come off a gritty 40 mins of rugby instead of some Stephen Jones basketball rugby.

Well, that's my hope anyway.

The way the crusaders came out in the second half, the Chiefs were not made to change gear and we got the messy second half we saw. They did more than enough in the first half for Canes fans to know that we will be well up against it (should we be fortunate enough to make the final....). The Chiefs game can negate everything that is good about our game

Very impressive first half from the Chiefs backs. Ratima pretty good. McKenzie pulling the strings very nicely, putting people in space and both short and high kicks were on point - and Tupaea and Foketi, LCF, Hutchinson and Taumoefolau all good too - just carved them to pieces.
Up front Vaa'i and Samisoni and Lord all good, and I think Norris secured his AB squad ticket.
For the Crusaders, Taylor and Blackadder made a lot of tackles, and Kemara continues to develop. Their other backs were really not good at all, bench included. Preston's decisions on when to kick and execution were poor.

Gardner was generally good, but what the fuck was that non yellow card 'because it's a scrum penalty'?

2nd half a bit of a sloppy mess all around with the score and the injury subs. Good to see Carter running around again, bad miss on Havili for his try though.

Assuming the Canes will dispose of the Blues pretty easily, it's looking like a tasty final.

@Steven-Harris said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

@Chris-B. Always thought it might be a bridge to far without the likes of Jordon ,Williams and Barrett
Those first few handling errors set the tone unfortunately
I do wonder if all those recent home derbys without rotation eventually took its toll

Although the Chiefs were pretty ruthless both sides of the ball
Sorry to see the likes of Sevu Reece leaving NZ rugby will give the man his dues he always gives 110% for the Crusaders
His skill level and footwork at times is outrageous

Congrats to D Mac on 150 x games

Yeah - I thought we were a chance, but wasn't really expecting a win. The drubbing that we got dished in the first half was a bit of a nasty surprise, but that sometimes happens when everything runs for one team and not much does for the other. Most of the bounces of the ball went the Chiefs way and they executed ruthlessly. I think the score more reflected how good they were rather than us being particularly bad - though the tackle Ennor missed to concede the third or fourth try was a shocker. Think we also missed McLeod, which is something I didn't expect to be typing.

Yeah - Sevu gets a bit of a bum rap on here, but it's not his fault he's not quite an elite international wing. He's pretty much been consistently top 3 in NZ Super rugby for the past half dozen years.

@Chris-B. said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

Yeah - Sevu gets a bit of a bum rap on here, but it's not his fault he's not quite an elite international wing. He's pretty much been consistently top 3 in NZ Super rugby for the past half dozen years.

In physics he's known as the Anti-Ma'a.

Now that the fizz has subdued, I’m a bit worried for next week and the injuries we sustained? I’m really hoping at least a couple of those that came off will play

Crusaders coach Rob Penney provided an update on Fainga'anuku's injury post-match.

"He got sort of hip-dropped, one of the boys fell down on the back of his ankle which caused a high-ankle sprain, which is what I think it is at this stage,'' Penney said.

"Pretty sore, yeah.''

@antipodean said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

@Chris-B. said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

Yeah - Sevu gets a bit of a bum rap on here, but it's not his fault he's not quite an elite international wing. He's pretty much been consistently top 3 in NZ Super rugby for the past half dozen years.

In physics he's known as the Anti-Ma'a.

He gets a rap for being a poor human being. Nothing bum about it.

@Chris-B. Your last coms re Sevu are spot on
I bēlieve he was a 10 at school boy level ?

@Jnr said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

@antipodean said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

@Chris-B. said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

Yeah - Sevu gets a bit of a bum rap on here, but it's not his fault he's not quite an elite international wing. He's pretty much been consistently top 3 in NZ Super rugby for the past half dozen years.

In physics he's known as the Anti-Ma'a.

He gets a rap for being a poor human being. Nothing bum about it.

I think you're missing both my point and the joke.

@antipodean time for a young wing like Springer to have an extended go in the wing position. Sevu has been a servant though and we wish him all the best.

@Rugbyman said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

@antipodean time for a young wing like Springer to have an extended go in the wing position. Sevu has been a servant though and we wish him all the best.

Maloni Kunawave maybe the better long term bet he has speed Fast feet only 20 ,I would like to see Malone get some game time.

Reece at his peak over the past 6-8 years or (excluding the last 2 particularly at Int level) was quality at both levels, had a.great ability to read the game.to make.up for his lack of top end pace, coupled.with an excellent work rate.

@Steven-Harris said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

@Chris-B. Your last coms re Sevu are spot on
I bēlieve he was a 10 at school boy level ?

Not at Hamilton BHS. He played mainly in the midfield.

@taniwharugby said in SF: Chiefs v Crusaders:

Reece at his peak over the past 6-8 years or (excluding the last 2 particularly at Int level) was quality at both levels, had a.great ability to read the game.to make.up for his lack of top end pace, coupled.with an excellent work rate.

That super rugby try scoring record he has set is going to be hard to break.