Partisan support at brand new stadium could hold key to Crusaders’ chances of defending Super Rugby Pacific title

Monday, 20 April 2026

ANALYSIS: The injury-ravaged Crusaders must now rely on the new stadium bounce and partisan home support to cement a Super Rugby Pacific playoffs place after back-to-back 31-26 losses in Australia.

Rob Penney’s team blew a 19-0 lead, conceding four second half tries to lose to the Western Force in Perth on Sunday (NZ time) by the same scoreline as their reverse to the Reds in Brisbane.

The Super Rugby champions still sit sixth in the standings, but the Waratahs - who the Crusaders host in the Super Round opener at One New Zealand Te Kaha Stadium - have closed the gap to one point with a weekend win over Moana Pasifika.

It’s a short turnaround for the Crusaders with a Friday night kick-off after a long flight home from Perth.

After the Waratahs the Crusaders face the Hurricanes (twice), Chiefs and Blues - the three leading teams.

Three of those matches will be at Te Kaha, their brand new home, and they will need to feed off capacity crowds to overcome increasingly lengthening odds.

Penney felt the Crusaders “let the foot off the throat’’ in Perth after racking up their early lead allowed the Force to ”keep gnawing away at us“ and he acknowledged ill-discipline - including a ninth yellow card of the season’’ was costly.

There was some controversy over Force winger Dylan Pietsch’s second half try. Penney agreed with a post-match press conference observation that the ball may not have been grounded, but said: “But that happens”.

Penney said the reasons behind the Crusaders’ stumble was “the 60,000 question” but he felt a “little bit of mental relaxation’’ set in after three early scores which led to ”sharpness dropping off“.

He said the Crusaders wouldn’t be using the short turnaround to the Waratahs game as an excuse, but he said they were honoured to be opening “an incredible stadium’’ in Christchurch.

“It’s incumbent on us to make sure we do it justice.”

The Crusaders’ being sorely tested by an injury attrition rate eerily reminiscent of 2024 when they missed the playoffs cut after seven consecutive titles.

Winger Chay Fihaki was scratched on game day in Perth with a hamstring strain and reserve lock Will Tucker withdrew with concussion.

They join All Blacks Will Jordan, David Havili, Codie Taylor, Tamaiti Williams, Ethan Blackadder, Kyle Preston and Braydon Ennor in the casualty ward.

Sevu Reece replaced Fihaki on the right wing and the Crusaders’ scarcely skipped a beat, running up three unanswered tries to George Bell, Leicester Faianga’anuku and Johnny McNicholl in the first 22 minutes - the last two with Force flanker Nick Champion de Crespigny in the sin bin.

McNicholl’s was a contender for try-of-the-season. The veteran fullback did his best Dallin Watene-Zelezniak impression to dive and score in the corner with fingertip precision after a Fainga’anuku surge and a searing break and pinpoint chip from the excellent Macca Springer.

But the Force struck back with a try every bit as stylish as McNicholl’s.

Fly-half Ben Donaldson fired a cut-out pass which drew Reece off his line. Deft handling by Pietsch, NRL convert winger Zac Lomax and Mac Grealy sent Robertson scampering to the try-line.

You could sense the Force lift and it took a try-saving tackle by Bell to hold up Carlo Tizzano on the line after the half-time hooter to preserve the Crusaders’ 19-7 lead.

They should never have lost it from there - but they did.

When Penney reviews the tape he will wince at how the Crusaders dominated two key attack metrics - metres gained (612 to 342) and offloads (15 to 2), but frittered away a dominant position.

Ill-discipline cost them again.

A second half yellow card to lock Tahlor Cahill (for persistent team infringements) was the Crusaders’ ninth of the season - three more than the next-worst Blues. The Force scored two tries with Cahill in the cooler.

The Crusaders were also on the wrong end of the penalty count, conceding 12 to seven. Their indiscretions took the pressure off the Perth-siders and allowed them momentum.

Their lineout went from blemish-free in Brisbane to too porous in Perth where they lost three of their eight throws. The Force, by contrast, with captain Jeremy Williams snaring seven catches, executed 16 of their 17 lineout attempts and applied defensive pressure on the Crusaders’ line.

Crusaders backrowers Lio-Willie, Johnny Lee and Dom Gardiner bossed the breakdown for the first half-hour but the Force, inspired by Tizzano, came back to ultimately force five ruck turnovers to the visitors’ three.

Robertson ducked past Louie Chapman’s tackle to score from a lineout maul and Lomax crossed for his first Super Rugby try to tie the score.

But Gardiner put a big step on Lomax and sent Springer away with a clever pass for Noah Hotham to restore the Crusaders’ lead.

Seconds after Cahill’s card, Pietsch scored.

Springer - the Crusaders’ most potent attacker with 126m in his first game of the year - had a go-ahead try ruled for a Reece knock-on.

As if preordained, burly Force prop Harry Johnson-Holmes stretched out to give the Force the lead in his 100th Super Rugby game.

The desperate Crusaders strung multiple phases in the final seconds, but Carlo the Jackal Tizzano filched a game-ending turnover for the Force’s fourth win in eight games against the South Islanders in Perth.

Captain Christian Lio-Willie admitted the Crusaders “felt that momentum shift’’ in the second. “We just didn’t absorb it as well,’’ he said, conceding the Force “came out and completed their sets more than us”.

There were some good individual efforts from the Crusaders - Fainga’anuku looked sharp for 91m with ball in hand and Lio-Willie (48m) often broke the advantage line.

Gardiner bristled with aggression on both sides of the ball. As well as his try assist, he carved off 68m from 16 carries in the wider channels and made a team-high 18 tackles, although there were also five misses and a couple of penalty concessions.

Lee stole two turnovers and lock Jamie Hannah completed all 17 tackle attempts.

But, collectively, the Crusaders will know they should have brought home more than losing bonus points. They could, ultimately, live to regret it.