ROSEMARY ABBOTT | Sport
CROWN THE KINGS NOW
Crusaders fans are genuinely getting impatient now.
The 14 time champions will have to play another rugby match against Chiefs this Saturday to then lift the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific Trophy.
The match, which will be played in Christchurch — aka the most statistically secure rugby stronghold on the planet when it comes to knockout games — marks the Crusaders’ eighth home final and comes after their 31st consecutive home playoff win, a tense 21-14 victory over the Blues.
Our reporters hit the streets of Christchurch and spoke to members of the red and black army about what they thought of this weekend’s extra match.
“What more do they want?” asked one fan. “We’ve never lost a home playoff — that’s 31 in a row. It’s basically science at this point. Making us play another one is just delaying the inevitable.”
Longtime fan Millie Davies agreed.
“It’s actually disrespectful at this point. We beat the Blues, again. Will Jordan scored, again. It’s the same story every year. Just hand us the bloody trophy now and save the other team the inevitable disappointment of losing a Super Rugby final.”
One-eyed Cantab Craig Chamberlain was less measured.
“This is a bloody insult!” he roared. They should be handing us the trophy in the tunnel, not making us run around for 80 minutes! Here’s a new format idea for next year. The rest of the competition should just play knockout rounds to see who gets the honour of losing to us in the final!”
More to come.
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