All Blacks By Another Name

- Paul Thomas

Departing Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd got it just about dead right. After his team had come a distant second in their Super Rugby semi-final, he said that “the Crusaders are probably at the moment, with what they’ve got, 20 points better than any side”.

Last weekend, the Crusaders duly won their ninth Super Rugby title, beating the Johannesburg-based Lions by 19 points. In this instance, near enough is good enough, because the scoreboard is seldom a precise reflection of the contest. In fact, the Lions provided a much stiffer challenge than the Hurricanes had a week earlier yet lost by a point more.