Some of the Crusaders players aren't doing their jobs, says fullback Israel Dagg, who has not omitted himself from criticism.
Dagg, who has struggled to reproduce his dashing All Black form in Super Rugby this season and admitted missing "about five" tackles in Sunday's lacklustre win over the Rebels, spoke candidly yesterday about the frustrations in the Crusaders camp this season.
His comments come as the team prepares for its sternest test so far -- away to the pace-setting Brumbies this Sunday.
The Crusaders "weren't there mentally" against the Rebels. "Everyone was missing tackles," he said. "I missed about five or something like that."
The players were being a bit too nice to each other instead of demanding a lot better from each other, he said.
"There are certain guys that are doing their jobs and then certain guys that aren't doing their jobs and it's impacting the team, but in saying that we were lucky to get a win and we're still in this competition."
His comments showed the players are as frustrated as the fans with the inconsistency that sees them with a five-win, four-loss record.
"You might do something that's reasonably OK and then you let other things come into your game that you never do. It's frustrating and it's affecting our team and affecting our game."
Dagg said he thought a few of the boys were looking in the mirror on their day off on Monday, "looking at themselves, and saying who am I and what I want to achieve for this team.
"I watched the Brumbies play the Force, they absolutely annihilated them, so it's going to be a tough task this week."
Crusaders attack coach Aaron Mauger said Dagg was doing some outstanding things on the field, but there were some areas he was probably not happy with.
"I think the thing with him is he's such a threat to opposition teams that teams are marking up well on him, so there's got to be space for other people, and we've just got to make sure that Izzy's making good decisions around where that space is and when his opportunities are there for himself," said Mauger.
Dagg liked to make line breaks and liked to do a lot of flashy stuff, but the key thing was nailing his core roles. "If he can do that we know he's such a talent that the rest of his game will flow from there."
Dagg agreed with Mauger's comment: "I think I'm just looking for that wonderful bit of magic that (you) sometimes can create, so it's just having that patience and just nailing my role, whether it's exit plays, getting us out of our zone, or carrying hard."
Meanwhile, Mauger said Kieran Read would be "touch and go" for Sunday. "There's still a few boxes that he needs to tick for selection."
- Nick Tolerton of the Christchurch Star