Weekend Review - Rugby Union

Two disappointing results this week as the Hurricanes went down to the Crusaders in the Super 14 and the Saints crashed out of Europe to Worcester. The Hurricanes played a good match but unfortunately let the Crusaders get too big a lead in the first half and were always playing catch up football. Unlike the last few weeks they were unable to get close in what was an absolute cracker of an end to end match. They should learn a lesson from this and have a good rest in their bye week next week to come back fresh to take on the Highlanders in two weeks time. Once again their second half performance highlighted their defensive capabilities, but the 17 point lead that the Crusaders has was always going to be tough to break. However if they continue to put in these kind of performances they are going to be a hard team to beat. Three more wins will see them to the semi-final and they are more than capable of getting them.

The Saints however will only make it into the Heineken cup through the league now. It was a disappointing defeat to take but ultimately in this tight game Worcester just had to much for them. The disappointing thing about this game was the inability of the Saints to hold onto a lead. On three occasions they took the lead only to concede tries very shortly afterwards. There is an old saying in sport that says a team are at their most vulnerable after they score. This applied to the Saints who had they managed to defend better after they scored may well have found themselves winning this game. Unlike the Saints however once Worcester got ahead they were able to push on and create a lead that would prove to be too much for the Saints. It's difficult to pinpoint where things went wrong, but as the Coach Paul Grayson said, we got what we deserved, and if that's the case then things really need to improve before a crucial game against Bath next weekend