Crusaders flyer Robbie Fruean dominated last year’s clash at Allianz Stadium
Photo: seiserphotography.com

by Paul Cook –

February 21st 2004. John Howard was in his third term as Prime Minister, Shannon Noll was at no.1 with ‘What About Me?’ (oh dear) and Black Caviar was still a mere glint in Bel Esprits’ eyes.

Amazing to think that this was also the day when the NSW Waratahs last beat the Crusaders, 43-19, in the opening round of the 2004 Super Rugby season. Nine long suffering years for supporters, players and coaches alike and not another victory in a competitive fixture between the two Antipodean heavyweights has gone the way of the men in Cambridge Blue.

The record makes for damning reading: Played 10 Won 0 Lost 10 For 235 Against 299

They’ve been close. They lost by only a point in 2007 and by 4pts in 2009 and again last year in Sydney, where an impressive effort from what was – at the time – a struggling Waratahs side, was eventually undone by the pace and execution of Robbie Fruean as the visitors claimed the spoils 37-33. In fact, in six of those ten clashes since that February day man moons ago, they have gone down within a converted try.

Blast from the past: Mat Rogers, Lote Tuqiri & Phil Waugh in action back in 2004

Two of the clashes have been on the grandest stage, the Super Rugby title deciders in 2005 and 2008, both in Christchurch. A late flurry put some respectability on the ’05 scoreline which finished 35-25 but in ‘08, the Tahs led at half-time through two tries from Lachie Turner, and with the mercurial Kurtley Beale pulling the strings, looked set to finally break their title drought but when Beale crocked his ankle and left the field, the hopes and dreams of an entire state went with him.

Of course, a game nine years ago bears little significance to the outcome of tonight’s match between the two, again in Christchurch, but as a footnote in rugby history, it has some interesting sub-plots relevant to today. Facing off in the coaches box were two men who could very soon be going head to head for the Wallabies job, the incumbent Robbie Deans and his potential usurper, Ewen McKenzie. It was actually McKenzie’s first match in charge of New South Wales and his first match as a head coach in professional rugby. What a way to start.

The Tahs simply smashed the Crusaders on the day, Mat Rogers racking up 28 of the team’s 43 points including one of the four bonus point tries that confirmed their superiority. Helping to lay the platform for the success was Al Baxter, the most capped Wallaby prop of all time and a Waratah as recently as 2011. He has fractured memories of the victory now but does remember the significance of the win, given the Tahs previous visit to Crusaders territory in 2002, a 96-19 flogging that still leaves Waratahs supporters smarting at the memory.

Al Baxter was in his fifth season at the Tahs in 2004 – Photo: seiserphotography.com

“I was in the squad for that game in 2002 but wasn’t picked because we’d topped the table and Bob Dwyer decided that he’d give a few guys a rest going into the finals,” he recalls. “There were a few old heads but really it was a pretty inexperienced side that went over there and unfortunately, got towelled up. A few of us were pretty filthy on the Friday when we hadn’t been picked because you never want to get dropped for any game but by the Sunday morning, we were all quite relieved!”

“When we went back in 2004,” he continues “we’d had a pre-season where there was a lot of focus on that game because we saw it as one which, if we won, would set a benchmark for the year. Ewen McKenzie was competitive about everything, he creates a really good, competitive culture within teams so you front up everywhere and that is what you need to do against the Crusaders. You need to have – not arrogance – but confidence. Get down there, front up and believe in yourself.”

Despite the fact that the Crusaders have, for many of those nine years, been the team to beat in the competition, Baxter can’t quite put his finger on why the Waratahs haven’t been able to claim their scalp in such a long time.

“I think perhaps they’ve done their homework on us,” he observes “and maybe too, it’s one of those psychological things where you’ve had a couple of losses and you lose a bit of self belief. But in saying that, I think that what’s good about the current Waratahs side is that on Friday night they’ll have a lot of guys who haven’t played the Crusaders before so there’s no issues with self-belief. The way the guys had been playing up until the Melbourne game, there’ll be no issues with self-belief anyway, if anything the loss will just stoke them up more.”

That surprise defeat at the hands of the Melbourne Rebels last week threw a pretty big spanner into the works of a team that have been building week on week under Michael Cheika, slowly ticking off the boxes that mark their transition from predictable underachievers, onto competitive entertainers and in recent weeks, through to bona fide big game winners and contenders.

Baxter saw the loss as a natural disappointment but a mere blip rather than a disaster.

“I think it’s been played down how well the Rebels actually played,” he points out. “They played very well the week before against the Stormers and they’re playing a tough style of rugby where they just keep fighting and fighting. They remind me of a terrier with a bone, you just can’t get it off it. The Waratahs didn’t play as well as they had in the previous weeks and made a couple of key errors but if Brendan McKibbin’s kick had gone over near the end, none of us would be talking about it.

Tough one to take: The Tahs in disbelief after the loss to the Rebels

“I think, although it was really disappointing to lose,” he continues, “the loss wasn’t a massive one and hopefully, it’ll spark the guys on. In the context of the season, and Michael Cheika said this at the start of the year, although the change will happen, it’s not going to be as consistently as we’d like it to be this season. I’m not trying to make excuses for the guys losing but I certainly think while it was a disappointing loss, it wasn’t a mortal wound.”

The fact that the defeat now forces the Tahs to go into tonight’s clash realistically needing nothing less than victory if they harbour any serious thoughts about sneaking a finals appearance this season, means that history itself, let alone the red and black superstars in front of them, must be slain.

The 2013 Crusaders haven’t been at their best – yet – and come into the game on the back of their own loss to the champion Chiefs last week but forever remain a dangerous animal. So, the million dollar question is how do the Waratahs fly in the face of history and results and pull off the upset victory?

“The key is to never let them in the game,” says Baxter. “It’s an obvious thing to say but they are just brilliant at being able to turn that five minute lapse in concentration into a whole lot of points. Both finals we played against them over there, we were leading or pretty equal with them all through the match and then just let them in for a couple of minutes and it seems like a 14 point turnaround because you’re pushing their line and all of a sudden, you’ll make an error and it’ll go back their way.

“You must also never let the pressure off. The Waratahs showed that against the Brumbies, which was just one of the hardest flog fests I’ve seen all season, and having won that one through unrelenting pressure, they showed that they’ve got the talent to do it. They’ve definitely got the team to do it.”

*******

Crusaders v NSW Waratahs

Friday May 31, 2013 (5.35pm AEST), AMI Stadium, Christchurch

1. Benn Robinson (Eastwood), 2. John Ulugia (Eastern Suburbs), 3. Sekope Kepu (Randwick), 4. Sitaleki Timani (Southern Districts) , 5. Kane Douglas (Southern Districts) , 6. Pat McCutcheon (Sydney University), 7. Michael Hooper (Manly) , 8. Dave Dennis (Sydney University, captain), 9. Brendan McKibbin (Eastern Suburbs)  , 10. Bernard Foley (Sydney University), 11. Peter Betham (Sydney University), 12. Rob Horne (Southern Districts)  , 13. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Northern Suburbs) , 14. Cam Crawford (Northern Suburbs), 15. Israel Folau (Sydney University)

Replacements
16. Luke Holmes (Warringah), 17. Paddy Ryan (Sydney University) , 18. Will Skelton (Sydney University), 19. Jed Holloway (Southern Districts), 20. Matt Lucas (Manly) , 21. Berrick Barnes (Sydney University), 22. Drew Mitchell (Balmain)