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Associated Press
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Crusaders beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 to clinch a home semifinal in Super Rugby
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — The Crusaders produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 Friday and claim home advantage in next week's Super Rugby semifinals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders' forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. 'Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet and dark and we love it,' Hotham said. The result means the Crusaders are now 30-0 in home playoff matches while Australian teams are 0-20 in playoff matches in New Zealand. 'Obviously we're really disappointed with the result but I'm really proud of this group and the season that we had,' Reds captain Tate McDermott said. 'They were all over us at the breakdown and collision area and we just couldn't get into our cycle.' The Reds fought hard and created early chances which often were undone by handling errors close to the goalline. They finally had success in the 70th minute when Josh Nasser scored from a lineout drive. Then, in the 76th minute, Fraser McReight scored from a kick by fellow backrower Harry Wilson. Replacement scrumhalf Kyle Preston finished with an intercept try for the Crusaders in the last minute. The Crusaders had scrum superiority which produced four penalties in the first half alone and dominated the collisions and the breakdown. The Reds suffered a major setback when they lost Wallabies flyhalf Tom Lynagh to a head injury midway through the first half. 'We had to grind it out near the end there but I think the way our forwards set it up was huge and our set piece was huge so we're really happy with that,' Crusaders captain David Havili said. In the 15th minute the Crusaders won a breakdown turnover and Havili put the ball out five meters from the Reds line. Josh Canham won the ball cleanly for the Reds but in transferring it to Fraser McReight, Barrett got a hand in the way. He regained the ball and drove over for the first try of the match. In the 20th minute, the Crusaders won a penalty close to the Reds 22 when McDermott was ruled to be not supporting his weight at a ruck. The Crusaders kicked to the corner, Barrett won the lineout and after several thrusts, Williams forced his way over. He limped from the field a few minutes later with a knee injury. Rivez Reihana landed one of two conversions and the Crusaders led 12-0 at halftime. Reihana left the field temporarily for a head injury assessment before halftime which allowed veteran flyhalf James O'Connor to make an earlier than expected appearance against his former Reds teammates. Hotham pursued his own kick to score a brilliant try in the 57th minute and Reihana scored after the Crusaders had sorely pressed the Reds' defense from lineouts. In other matches in the first playoff round, the Chiefs will play the Auckland-based Blues in Hamilton and the ACT Brumbies will play the Wellington-based Hurricanes on Saturday. ___ AP rugby:
The Star
5 hours ago
- Sport
- The Star
Rugby-Crusaders outmuscle Reds to reach Super Rugby semis
(Reuters) -The Canterbury Crusaders kept intact their perfect home playoff record with a comfortable 32-12 victory over the Queensland Reds at a rain-soaked Christchurch Stadium on Friday to move into the Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals. The 12-times champions battered the Reds physically in all areas of the game and scored five tries through Scott Barrett, Tamaiti Williams, Noah Hotham, Rivez Reihana and Kyle Preston to take their home playoff record to 30-0. The Reds never got their expansive attack going in the face of the home side's physicality and line speed and tries from Josh Nasser and Fraser McReight against a shorthanded defence in the last 10 minutes were mere consolations. All Blacks captain Barrett opened the scoring in the 17th minute when he knocked the ball out of McReight's hands at a Reds lineout on their own tryline and pounced to score. The visitors were being more frequently penalised and after scrumhalf Tate McDermott was pinged for an attempted jackal closing on the half hour mark, the Crusaders kicked for touch and set up a rolling maul. The Reds stopped the maul but the Crusaders forwards peeled off left with prop Williams burrowing over the line from close range for a converted try that gave his team a 12-0 lead. The Crusaders laid siege to the Reds line and although the Australians kept them out, the repeated tackles were bound to have an impact later in the game. The next score came in the 56th minute through a fine individual try from scrumhalf Hotham, who kicked the ball ahead out of a tackle and raced 30 metres to gather it and touch down. Flyhalf Rivez Reihana added the extras, kicked a 40-metre penalty to stretch the lead to 22-0 on the hour mark before adding the fourth try from close range. "I think the way our forwards stepped up was huge, and the set piece went really well so we're really happy with that," said Crusaders captain David Havili. Crusaders flanker Ethan Blackadder marred an otherwise brilliant performance with a yellow card for a high tackle 11 minutes from time, allowing the Reds to take advantage of the extra man and score twice. "You've got to give credit to the Crusaders," said Reds co-captain McDermott. "They were all over us at the breakdown and the collision area, and we just couldn't get into our cycle." The other three semi-finals spots will be decided on Saturday when the top-seeded Waikato Chiefs take on the reigning champion Auckland Blues and the ACT Brumbies host the Wellington Hurricanes. The losing team from the three matches with the highest finish in the regular season standings also progress to the last four. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Christian Radnedge)
Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Crusaders outmuscle Reds to reach Super Rugby semis
The Canterbury Crusaders kept intact their perfect home playoff record with a comfortable 32-12 victory over the Queensland Reds at a rain-soaked Christchurch Stadium on Friday to move into the Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals. The 12-times champions battered the Reds physically in all areas of the game and scored five tries through Scott Barrett, Tamaiti Williams, Noah Hotham, Rivez Reihana and Kyle Preston to take their home playoff record to 30-0. The Reds never got their expansive attack going in the face of the home side's physicality and line speed and tries from Josh Nasser and Fraser McReight against a shorthanded defence in the last 10 minutes were mere consolations. All Blacks captain Barrett opened the scoring in the 17th minute when he knocked the ball out of McReight's hands at a Reds lineout on their own tryline and pounced to score. The visitors were being more frequently penalised and after scrumhalf Tate McDermott was pinged for an attempted jackal closing on the half hour mark, the Crusaders kicked for touch and set up a rolling maul. The Reds stopped the maul but the Crusaders forwards peeled off left with prop Williams burrowing over the line from close range for a converted try that gave his team a 12-0 lead. The Crusaders laid siege to the Reds line and although the Australians kept them out, the repeated tackles were bound to have an impact later in the game. The next score came in the 56th minute through a fine individual try from scrumhalf Hotham, who kicked the ball ahead out of a tackle and raced 30 metres to gather it and touch down. Flyhalf Rivez Reihana added the extras, kicked a 40-metre penalty to stretch the lead to 22-0 on the hour mark before adding the fourth try from close range. "I think the way our forwards stepped up was huge, and the set piece went really well so we're really happy with that," said Crusaders captain David Havili. Crusaders flanker Ethan Blackadder marred an otherwise brilliant performance with a yellow card for a high tackle 11 minutes from time, allowing the Reds to take advantage of the extra man and score twice. "You've got to give credit to the Crusaders," said Reds co-captain McDermott. "They were all over us at the breakdown and the collision area, and we just couldn't get into our cycle." The other three semi-finals spots will be decided on Saturday when the top-seeded Waikato Chiefs take on the reigning champion Auckland Blues and the ACT Brumbies host the Wellington Hurricanes. The losing team from the three matches with the highest finish in the regular season standings also progress to the last four. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
Super Rugby Pacific: Crusaders scrum the Reds out of the play-offs
Will Jordan of the Crusaders. Photo: John Davidson / It wasn't pretty, but the Crusaders have recorded a dominant 32-12 win over the Reds in Christchurch. The result means the Crusaders can sit back and watch tomorrow's games to find out who they'll play in next weekend's semi-finals, while the Reds will be wondering where it all went wrong after such a promising start to the season. A good start would be to look at their scrum, which was smashed to bits by the Crusaders from start to finish in tough conditions thanks to the horrific weather battering the South Island. The Crusaders racked up a 5-0 penalty count early in the first half, with three coming off scrums which in turn were converted into excellent field position. Scott Barrett got the home side on the board first with a well taken yet slightly questionable try from a turnover near the Reds' line. It certainly appeared that the All Blacks captain came in from an offside position but the referee and TMO seemed more preoccupied with whether Barrett grounded the ball, which he did so the try stood. The only other scoring in the first half, despite a couple of decent Reds linebreaks, was when Tamaiti Williams crashed over in the 27th minute. The Reds really needed to score straight after the break if they were to have any chance, however by that stage the game had regressed into more of a kicking duel. A half break by Christian Lio-Willie out of nowhere set up the try of the match to Noah Hotham, with the halfback regathering his own kick despite the attention of several Reds defenders. From then on, the result was inevitable, and while the Reds were eventually rewarded with a couple of late tries, it was clear that they'd resigned themselves to defeat long before. It wasn't all perfect for the Crusaders, though. Williams' try was his last act before leaving the field with a knee injury, while Ethan Blackadder was yellow carded for a needless high tackle. Still, tonight's job was done, and they now sit one game away from ultimate redemption for last season. Read how the game unfolded with RNZ's live blog:
Reuters
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Crusaders outmuscle Reds to reach Super Rugby semis
June 6 (Reuters) - The Canterbury Crusaders kept intact their perfect home playoff record with a comfortable 32-12 victory over the Queensland Reds at a rain-soaked Christchurch Stadium on Friday to move into the Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals. The 12-times champions battered the Reds physically in all areas of the game and scored five tries through Scott Barrett, Tamaiti Williams, Noah Hotham, Rivez Reihana and Kyle Preston to take their home playoff record to 30-0. The Reds never got their expansive attack going in the face of the home side's physicality and line speed and tries from Josh Nasser and Fraser McReight against a shorthanded defence in the last 10 minutes were mere consolations. All Blacks captain Barrett opened the scoring in the 17th minute when he knocked the ball out of McReight's hands at a Reds lineout on their own tryline and pounced to score. The visitors were being more frequently penalised and after scrumhalf Tate McDermott was pinged for an attempted jackal closing on the half hour mark, the Crusaders kicked for touch and set up a rolling maul. The Reds stopped the maul but the Crusaders forwards peeled off left with prop Williams burrowing over the line from close range for a converted try that gave his team a 12-0 lead. The Crusaders laid siege to the Reds line and although the Australians kept them out, the repeated tackles were bound to have an impact later in the game. The next score came in the 56th minute through a fine individual try from scrumhalf Hotham, who kicked the ball ahead out of a tackle and raced 30 metres to gather it and touch down. Flyhalf Rivez Reihana added the extras, kicked a 40-metre penalty to stretch the lead to 22-0 on the hour mark before adding the fourth try from close range. "I think the way our forwards stepped up was huge, and the set piece went really well so we're really happy with that," said Crusaders captain David Havili. Crusaders flanker Ethan Blackadder marred an otherwise brilliant performance with a yellow card for a high tackle 11 minutes from time, allowing the Reds to take advantage of the extra man and score twice. "You've got to give credit to the Crusaders," said Reds co-captain McDermott. "They were all over us at the breakdown and the collision area, and we just couldn't get into our cycle." The other three semi-finals spots will be decided on Saturday when the top-seeded Waikato Chiefs take on the reigning champion Auckland Blues and the ACT Brumbies host the Wellington Hurricanes. The losing team from the three matches with the highest finish in the regular season standings also progress to the last four.
