RUGBY NEWS - The muted response of the Crusaders to the final whistle in their semifinal and confirmation that they will be hosting Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby final might have been an ominous sign for the Emirates Lions.
For the Lions to stand a good chance of winning the decider, they need to be on top of their game and, perhaps as importantly, the Crusaders need to be below theirs. So it might have helped the Lions if the Crusaders had shared the general consensus after the Christchurch semi - that this was in fact the de facto final and that whoever had to travel across the time zones from South Africa would stand no chance.
But instead the Crusaders, after gathering in a huddle in a team meeting at the final whistle, maintained a business-like, matter-of-fact exterior that spoke of a side that knows it’s job is not yet done. It was the right thing to do and their captain Sam Whitelock would have agreed with his opposing captain Warren Whiteley that a team that makes the final gives itself a chance.
There are many good reasons though that Whitelock is going to have to spend the build-up week to the decider being painted as a champion in waiting. It started in the minutes after the Christchurch game ended, when the social media forums painted the later semifinal in Johannesburg between the Lions and the Waratahs as an irrelevance.
