Power, passion to shape semis
2006-05-18 10:11
Wellington - The Crusaders and Hurricanes have dismissed past results and home ground advantage as irrelevant in this weekend's Super 14 play-offs, saying the sides with the biggest adrenalin rush will go through to the finals.
It's all about passion on the night, Crusaders coach Robbie Deans said as the four semi-finalists completed a week of fine-tuning.
The Hurricanes host the Waratahs in the first semi-final on Friday night, while the Crusaders and Bulls clash in Christchurch on Saturday.
"You only need to look at recent results to see the home advantage and the travel factor don't influence results as much as they may have in the past," Deans said.
"Look at our result in Pretoria, the Bulls' big win in Cape Town and the Hurricanes upset in Sydney. Every year with Super rugby the home advantage becomes more and more irrelevant."
The Crusaders, as five-time winner of the Super 12, have been firm favourites to win the inaugural Super 14 all season, and despite a brief hiccup in South Africa three weeks ago they were immediately back to their best.
But around them, no side has bragging rights.
The Waratahs may have finished second in the round-robin, but they lost to the three other semi-finalists; the Hurricanes can't deny a dubious decision by the video referee helped their cause, and the Bulls only scraped into the semi-finals in the final match.
The side under the most pressure would be the Waratahs, forced into a backline rearrangement after losses to the Chiefs and Hurricanes in the past two weeks exposed frailties close to the ruck, while the positive drugs test for Wendell Sailor has created a hole out wide.
Playmaker Mat Rogers has lost the number 10 jersey and been shifted to fullback where he will have more time for counter-attack options.
But his replacement at pivot, novice Daniel Halanghau, can expect the same close attention from the Hurricanes loose trio of Rodney So'oialo, Jerry Collins and Chris Masoe.
Last week "I thought we shut their nine and 10, the major decision-makers, pretty well and we'll try to do the same again," said Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper.
"It's dog eat dog now, you're in or out so I don't think I need any motivational speeches this week."
On Saturday, the Bulls have gone for bulk, with Bakkies Botha reunited with Springbok locking partner Victor Matfield.
They form the most intimidating second-row in world rugby, and Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer said it was a change demanded by the occasion.
"We'll need the physical presence of Bakkies if we want to intimidate the Crusaders at the contact points from the word go," he said.
The Crusaders have in turn gone for speed, with the intention of running the heavier Bulls forwards into submission and denying them lineout opportunities.
Reuben Thorne will start at lock with Chris Jack, with the mobile Richie McCaw and Jonny Leo'o on the flank.