They may not have won the title, but the way Crusaders turned their season around after a poor start showed just how classy an outfit they are, says ODT Online rugby writer Jeff Cheshire.
You have to give the Crusaders credit. Credit is after all due after what they have been through.
They came up one point short in the final. It was a titanic struggle and the way they fought their way back into the game after a slow start, showed great courage. In the end it was not enough. The Waratahs started the game with their tails up and were dominant for the first 20 minutes. It was all they could do to win though and was by no means a reflection of the Crusaders' short-comings in the dying stages.
You never want to count out the Crusaders. They are such a class outfit. But if someone had have said after the first month of the season that they would have been finalists, you would have been forgiven for being sceptical.
Many of the things that have characterised Crusader-rugby over the years were not evident. They were not at all clinical. They were making mistakes, dropping balls, missing tackles and getting pushed around. On attack there was little thrust. So often the backline would get caught running across the field. When they did straighten up, no one had the punch to really make an impact.
But as they so often do, they came right. Nemani Nadolo was huge for the backline. In him, they finally had a player who posed a genuine threat to defences. He was a strong runner and a good finisher. Colin Slade's form at first five-eighth was big too, providing the direction that was lacking and doubling as more of a threat on attack than the others tried.
The forwards began to gain dominance. Perhaps it was an attitude thing. Maybe it was a fitness thing. Whatever the reason was, they were far more effective than in the first few weeks. They showed depth as well, playing parts of the season with Richie McCaw, Kieran Read and Luke Romano. Few other teams could survive so well after losing three All Blacks to injury.
Their maul became one of their most potent attacking weapons. The Highlanders learnt this first-hand in the demolition job the Crusaders gave them in the last round-robin game of the season.
They simply could not stop the red-and-black drive. It was very well done on the Crusaders' part. Their platform was solid; no cracks, everyone tightly bound in a unit, pushing straight, with the ball at the back and out of reach. When it is done properly it is near-impossible to stop. And the Crusaders did do it properly.
Several players stood up when called upon. Think Jordan Taufua, Luke Whitelock and Jimmy Tupou.
Matt Todd found form so good that he was keeping Richie McCaw out of the No. 7 jersey. Sam Whitelock was consistently a tower of strength. Ryan Crotty always the tidy, hard-running, effort-giving midfielder, while Andy Ellis continued to show he is far from washed-up.
By the end of July there was no question that they were one of the top two teams. The problems of March seemed a long time ago and their thrashing of the Sharks confirmed this.
Yet they were so heavily criticized early on, as was their coach, Todd Blackadder. They were not alone. The Blues, Hurricanes and Highlanders, and their coaches, all copped their share of criticism too.
Sometimes it has to be remembered that the competition is not won in March. Sure they were making mistakes, but there was plenty of time to iron them out. Ironically of the four teams whose coaches received such criticism, all remained in the playoff hunt right up until the final stages of the season.
The reality is that Super Rugby is a tough competition. There are 15 teams and on their day, any team is capable of beating any other. Early on the New Zealand teams seemed to be struggling.
But that was more indicative of the depth of the New Zealand conference. The five teams were all beating each other. Sometimes the opponent is just better on the day. As long as the losing team went down fighting, you can hardly hold them to too much blame.
To a greater extent, is the expectation to win championships. This has become so much more a big deal in recent years. But does it really make a team, player or coach a failure for coming second?
There are 15 teams in this competition and only one can win every year.
Todd Blackadder has not yet won a Super Rugby title as a coach. Does this make him a failure? No, it should not. Since taking over the Crusaders in 2009 he has never failed to miss the playoffs. That really is quite remarkable. It is true he has had a more than capable team, but so have others.
In his first two years it was the Bulls that were clearly the dominant team, both on paper and on the field. 2011 saw the Crusaders forced to play every game on the road, win a semifinal in South Africa and still very nearly beat the Reds in the final. The next two years the Chiefs were clearly the best team, while this year they came up one point short in the final. In all of those seasons the Crusaders were there or thereabouts. They may have not won, but they lost to quality teams. Sometimes this needs to be remembered more.
They remain the most consistent team in Super Rugby year in, year out. As long as it was since the Highlanders had last made the playoffs before this year, it has been even longer since the Crusaders last did not make them.
This season was the closest they have come to winning the whole thing since 2008. There were obvious flaws in their game early in the season. But they learnt from them and stamped them out.
This is what good teams will do. The Crusaders are, after all, a good team.
So give them credit. They turned their season around and did what they had to. But for a marginal penalty in the dying stages of the final, they could have been champions once more. Not since 2001 have they missed the playoffs, a streak that many thought looked destined to end this year. It is easy to forget all of this at season's end. Credit is deserved where credit is due and in this case, it is very much due.
