The match of the season

The Chiefs go head-to-head with the Crusaders tonight in the first Super Rugby semi-final, and there's plenty at stake. If the Chiefs win, they will host the Super Rugby final next weekend. If they lose, their season is over.

On the other hand, the Crusaders will be boarding a plane tomorrow, regardless of what happens tonight. Lose, and they'll fly home to Christchurch. But if they win, they'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out whether their destination is Canberra or Pretoria.

This match could and should be the match of the season to date. In the round-robin, each team won convincingly at home. But in the last few weeks, the momentum has been with Todd Blackadder's side. They were ruthless in out-muscling the Chiefs at Christchurch three weeks ago, a feat they repeated last week against the Reds. The Crusaders are the form team in Super Rugby at the moment.

In contrast, the Chiefs' last two efforts have been less than memorable. The week after their thumping by a rampant Crusaders outfit they struggled to overcome a 14-man Blues side. There will have to be a significant lift in intensity tonight for them to defend their title.

Sometimes key matches like this fail to live up to the hype. We hope that's not the case tonight, as there is plenty of rugby talent on the field, and with a dry track expected, this match could be an absolute classic.

We're picking the Crusaders to win tonight, but not by a lot; five to eight points perhaps. If they can reproduce the forward effort of last week at AMI Stadium, the Chiefs will struggle to subdue them. But our main hope is that referee Steve Walsh will be content to play the role of 31st man, and let the players decide the outcome.

We wish both sides the best; may the quality of the game do justice to the occasion, and may the better side win fair and square.

Ma'a sees red

It wasn't a stellar night for Ma'a Nonu last night at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. He'd been on the field a mere 13 seconds when he had a kick charged down, and the Crusaders almost scored. Perhaps he should have taken that as a sign.

Just a few minutes later, his night was over; red-carded by referee Steve Walsh:

The IRB leaves referees no latitude on tip-tackles; lift a player's legs above the horizontal and drop or drive him into the turf, and the referee has no alternative but to show a red card. And that is exactly what happened to Nonu last night. At full speed it looked bad, and on replay even worse; he was gone. As the Mastercard advert says, it was "Nonu. Nonu, Nonu; boom!"

Ma'a Nonu is an enigma. He has had an abysmal Super 15 this season (which has probably ended now, mercifully so), but the moment he pulled on the All Black jersey, he was transformed. It really is inexplicable.

There was also some rugby played last night of course, and a last-gasp, length-of-the-field try by Telusa Veainu gave the Crusaders a four-try bonus point.The Crusaders are running into form when it matters, and with Richie McCaw back in training, will be a force at the business end of the competition.


UPDATE: Ma'a Nonu is indeed in some strife, with a date with the judiciary over TWO incidents in a forgettable night last night.