SUPER RUGBY FINAL
Crusaders’ Richie Mo’unga peaking at the right time
With the way the Crusaders are set up‚ it is difficult to pin their success on an individual. But their run to the final has been timed impeccably with Richie Mo’unga’s coming of age as a player of serious reckoning. It was a challenge to replace such celebrated Crusaders playmakers as Andrew Merhtens and Daniel Carter. The former was at the forefront of the treble the South Island franchise secured at the turn of the millennium and another title in 2002. Carter took the art of flyhalf play to another level‚ helping the Crusaders to title wins in 2005‚ 2006 and 2008. Mo’unga was not even flickering on the radar when the Crusaders beat the Waratahs 20-12 at the sadly now defunct Lancaster Park on the last of those occasions. Only Kieran Read and Wyatt Crockett remain from the Robbie Deans-coached side as Todd Blackadder’s team became bridesmaids to the Australian teams that bested them in 2011 and again in 2014.
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