Crusaders - a truly exceptional effort.

This article was written by a guy named Morne Pissmier on another website I frequent, I thought it to be a very insightful article and want you guys to read it. It was originally placed on Rugby-Talk.com.

I have his permission to copy and paste, please enjoy.

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As the euphoria following the weekend’s local derbies subsides, let’s take a moment to acknowledge a truly special effort by a very special team.


I was sitting on a farm somewhere on the West Coast on Saturday morning trying my best to follow rugby scores on my cell-phone, when my better half asked me who was playing that morning. Now having had to put up with me for the last 5 to 6 years being involved with a couple of rugby blogs, her knowledge of the game and current matters involving rugby are actually very good, so when I said that the Crusaders are currently playing the Hurricanes in Wellington (in which was supposed to be a home fixture for the men from Cantebury), I was struck by the significance of the achievements of this team in the Super Rugby tournament of 2011.

We are all quite aware of the horrible events that the people from Christchurch went through in the last 4 to 5 months when the city was struck by a massive earthquake, followed by some equally devastating aftershocks the last of which occurred as early as last week.

For a population of 340 000-odd thousand citizens, the effects of this disaster would have been felt by every single individual.

The city not only lost their right to host matches in the Rugby World Cup to be hosted in New Zealand later this year, the Crusaders also lost their home for the duration of the Super Rugby competition.

In the aftermath of the earthquake, and apart from having to deal with the personal effects this would have had on the team and its players, arrangements now also had to be made for the Crusaders to play what would have been home-fixtures on other grounds, one of those as far as London, England, where they played the Sharks in what will go down as a magnificent occasion, and Super Rugby first.

Imagine for just one second if you will, the enormity of all of this.

In the last two weeks, we saw 50 000 + stadiums in South Africa sold out for two massive local derbies of huge importance to each team involved. Only this morning I listened to Stefan Terblanche on radio where he made mention of the importance and how rare it is for any team to travel to Loftus and collect a win. Some rugby pundits even believe home ground advantage can count as much as 10 points for the home team before the game kicks off!

So even ignoring the massive, and terrible effects the earthquake would have had on the Crusaders rugby team on a personal level, from a pure rugby perspective and the importance of home fixtures, the effort by the lads from Christchurch to end top of the NZ conference, and third on the combined log is absolutely mind-boggling.

Last week I watched a behind-the-scenes video of the Crusaders on the events on match-day, which includes a 4-hour bus trip to Nelson, and what struck me most was the ease in which these guys approached the whole thing, and how all of this is simply taken in their stride.

Since I started following the game of rugby union as a laaitie there were many amazing things I experienced and witnessed, this, ranks amongst the most amazing ever.

The Sharks will leave South Africa tomorrow night on what will no doubt be a trip from hell where they will have to travel half-way across the world to play in their qualifier against the very same Crusaders side. Where there is no doubt every single South African will be rooting for the boys from Durban come Saturday 09:35 in what will be one of the toughest away fixtures one could hope for, take a moment to consider their opposition who won the right to play at home, but will make that same 4-hour bus-trip to Nelson yet again.

Really special teams, or really special efforts from teams is quite rare in rugby. We saw 80 minutes of this at Loftus on Saturday by the Sharks, but we have also seen a whole season of this by the Crusaders.

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Absolutely agree Biltong!

Who knows, without the flawed draw which has seen the Crusaders miss out on a virtual dead-cert 8+ points v the Lions and the Rebels and the forfeited match v the Hurricanes (where we would have been pummled into the ground), they could have topped the overall table.

Top effort, and I can only see them winning the overall title wherever they have to play the final

It is remarkable what they have done / are doing. The travel aside, just living with that threat must rip at the nerves of all the residents of Christchurch. To come out and perform as they have each weekend is a credit to them.

It's a truly phenominal achievement by the Crusaders, they've only lost what 4 games all season? And they've played none at their home stadium, it's being called the never ending tour and I for one am amazed at their resilience.

I'm tipping them to win the S15 this season, but if they don't they can still hold their heads high.

I'd prefer for the Crusaders to keep to powder dry for later in the season. There are only so many herculean efforts that a bunch of guys can put in per season, and it might be nice if they were still hungry in October.

If they reach the Semi`s in the circumstances will have done well,earthquakes
constant travelling,no home games.
Then having a crippling run of injuries,Dagg,Maitland,Both the Whitelocks,Brad Thorn,Dan Carter,Ritchie McCaw,SBW,Andy Ellis,back up SH.
Yet still they have kept on winning,incredible someone wrote the trip to Cape Town.Was the longest period the side had in one place this season.

Overnight they had another 7 earthquakes 3's, 4's and a 5.3. Rattled the city (again), closed the airport for checking of cracks (again) and kept everyone up all night (again), obviously including the entire team who have (again) had their preparation disrupted- something theyve obviously got used to.

Can only hope this serves to motivate the team for Friday though I must say they must be getting 'tired' of being motivated for the same reason all the time.

This situation is just ridiculous and I don't think I've ever wanted a team to win a title more.

It's even more impressive when you consider there draw. Not everyone plays the same teams, no one plays the same teams. They had by far the hardest draw of the top sides to start with. They only had 2 games against the bottom four teams (the ones that really struggled), as opposed to 7 for the Reds.

Thats for sure.

This years team is the stuff legends are made of.

There's no denying its a great team anyway and will form the basis of the AB's this year, particularly in terms of leadership. Its the resolve that's perhaps been missing in previous years that may get them through this and on to the WC.

The impact and devastation and now the long term effects of the earthquake puts sport in its place on the backburner through all this so any achievements are secondary to whats happening to people down there but its great to have some of their very own carrying the flag through all this, perhaps leading the way in terms of being able to get through it all with resolve in the face of hardship, even though others fared much worse out of all this..

Straight out of boys own but there you go...

Makes you proud to be a Cantab! Lord knows the good people of Christchurch need something to cheer about. My friend´s kitchen floor was cut up again to go under the house to fix a broken pipe. Many others are in far worse situations. It´s like living in a war zone. A win would do wonders for morale.

But I take your point GreyGhost. Last year there was an all SA final and it didn´t seem to do SA any favours in the 3N having that extra intensity and a pretty weak pre-season hit-out.

But when has an AB supporter ever not been accused of being greedy! Let them win the Super 15, 3N and the World Cup. I have a dream, said Martin Luther King. Let´s hope it doesn´t turn into another nightmare that lasts four years!

Here, here - nothing more to add to the praise and admiration that has already been heaped on the 'saders

It is a great achievement what they've managed to do. I really hope they go all the way now, but even if they don't, what they've managed to do already is unbelievable. Well done Crusaders.