Super Rugby Pacific Grand Final: what we learned and what it means for the All Blacks

RNZ News

14 hours ago

Rob Penney with the Super Rugby trophy.
Photo:
John Davidson / www.photosport.nz
All Black squad naming
Midday, Monday 23 June
Coastal Rugby Club, Taranaki
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Analysis:
Turns out last year was just a blip for the Crusaders. Quite a significant blip, to be fair, one that deviated from common events but very much snapped back to normal when the side lifted the Super Rugby Pacific trophy after their tense
16-12 win over the Chiefs
on Saturday night.
The only difference was that it was the first Crusaders trophy lift in quite a while that didn't involve breakdancing, but it's unlikely anyone's holding that against Rob Penney. Last year he was
almost out of a job
, now he's one of only three current head coaches in the competition who can claim they've won it.
Penney's story of the last 18 months is a fascinating one, but it's his to tell when he chooses. Right now there's plenty to digest from the final and competition as a whole:
Noah Hotham of the Crusaders kicks during the Super Rugby Pacific Final.
Photo:
John Davidson / www.photosport.nz
No one was surprised when the first instinct of the Crusaders and Chiefs was to boot the ball high, long and often in the final. That's because as soon as the play-offs started everyone started to shut down all the expansive play that had been such a big part of the competition's regeneration at the start of the season. Obviously, the dipping temperatures played their part but it was the ultimately heightened risk that saw the offloads reduced, while real estate on the field became as valuable as it is in real life.
The upshot of this is that it's been the perfect workout before the test season starts. The All Blacks will likely be reverting to a stripped down style once things get close, so the fresh experience of having everything come down to a couple of key second half moments is vitally useful.
The Crusaders kept both the Blues and Chiefs scoreless in the second halves of the semi and final. You'd be hard pressed to find any team that does that in any game and loses.
Fletcher Newell of the Crusaders celebrates after winning a penalty during the Super Rugby Pacific Grand Final.
Photo:All the attention was on Tamaiti Williams and how his knee would hold up and while the big man certainly played his part, the real Crusaders hero was on the other side of the front row. For the second weekend in a row, Fletcher Newell started and finished the game - a phenomenal effort for a tighthead prop.
The entire Crusaders pack can take a bow though, as their effort in the 72nd minute to win the only points of the second half was not only crucial in the context of the game, but a culmination of a fantastic effort overall.
The All Black scrum was one of the major success stories last season, so it'll be no surprise at all when Newell's name once again gets read out on Monday's squad announcement.
A dejected Quinn Tupaea of the Chiefs after losing the Super Rugby Pacific Final.
Photo:
John Davidson / www.photosport.nz
Quinn Tupaea's big comeback season included a very good performance in the final, despite having little to work with due to the committed Crusaders defence. Was it enough to get him named in the initial squad? Other honourable mentions should go to Luke Jacobson, who typically threw himself into everything, Shaun Stevenson in his last game for the Chiefs, and Tupou Vaa'i, who has been outstanding all year.
Clayton McMillan and Tupou Vaa'i of the Chiefs.
Photo:
John Davidson / www.photosport.nz
While Penney can now bask from the top of the mountain after being in the darkest valley, where does this leave Clayton McMillan? The Chiefs are now in Buffalo Bills territory in terms of how fans now regard them, especially considering many were ready to engrave their names on the trophy after only a few rounds earlier this year.
McMillan now leaves to coach Munster, a role and overseas experience he fully deserves after dragging the corpse of what Warren Gatland had left of the Chiefs into a side that has been able to almost win a title three years in a row. Key word being 'almost' though. Will this count against him when he presumably returns to New Zealand at some stage to try and become the next All Black coach?