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The Crusaders-Hurricanes game was a thriller, just as everyone had predicted, but probably for reasons other than many people expected. There wasn't too much between the sides, and the fireworks and razzle-dazzle that everyone was hoping for didn't happen as the teams nullified each other quite a bit. The efforts of the Crusaders' tight five were the out-and-out difference, and that has been the template for success as long as the game has been around. You earn the right to go wide -- everything becomes just a little bit easier if you win the battle up front - and the certainty that the Crusaders enjoyed at scrum time, and around the field, laid the foundation for their win. It was interesting that Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd said the figures showed they had been two percent off their usual scrummaging level in games against the Crusaders over the previous five years. But that two percent makes all the difference. The sides were not that far apart on the scoreboard at the end. There was one scrum where you could see by the expression on Wyatt Crockett's face, the beaming smile when he came up from the scrum, that he knew he had his man and that the Crusaders had the dominance. That's what you need sometimes. It might just be a couple of inches either side but psychologically it is a huge dent. When you get down to the really big games, and Test matches are a great example, it's not about scoring tries and breaking lines because the defences are so good. Both defences in those games are rock solid, so it's key moments that make the big difference; those moments can be a little as a penalty, and certainly there was only the one try in the weekend game between the Crusaders and the Hurricanes at AMI Stadium.  The razzle-dazzle comes when you have a mismatch, or when you've got really special players who can create something. Other than that, the result in the biggest game comes down to key moments; you hear it all the time, and the Crusaders have had a philosophy of practising getting a turnover and striking very, very quickly afterwards because quite often that is when you can find a defence napping. These guys practise defence day in and day out; it is part of their job, so the D is pretty reliable and it is a case of finding when to attack it. It was good to see Matt Todd thrive under the circumstances because he is quite often the forgotten man in the seven jersey. Everyone in New Zealand tends to talk about Sam Cane and Ardie Savea, and the great battle they have for the All Blacks' starting position, but Todd has done a great job and he showed with his performance for the Crusaders against the Hurricanes that he could genuinely say, 'Don't forget about me'. What a great servant he has been for the Crusaders. He's not an in-your-face, centre-of-attention, sort of character, but he looms in the background and goes about his job, and does it beautifully, and his try was the difference in the game. By contrast, the Hurricanes' Ardie Savea had to cope with being in a pack that wasn't having things its own way. It is like what happens to the five-eighths; the first-five looks good when the team is going forward, and it's no different for the flankers and everyone else. Todd had a pack that was giving him some go-forward, allowing him to play off it, whereas Savea had a bit of a torrid time at the boot of the scrum from a forward pack that wasn't laying down a platform. It wasn't that bad but it probably came down to that two percent difference that Chris Boyd talked about.  Come the All Blacks, it will be different again. It is an interesting battle, and this weekend we have Cane and Todd doing battle for the Chiefs and the Crusaders in Suva which will be interesting. Cane has been steady since coming back from injury, and he needs to be stepping up at this stage of the season. Now is the time for all the players to step up if they want selection for the All Blacks against the British & Irish Lions. I think it is a really tight race at the moment for the New Zealand jumpers; Todd and Savea have been playing so well, but this game in Fiji is a good opportunity, another All Blacks trial, for a lot of players. Most people would regard Cane as having the inside running, and the confidence and ear of the selectors and coach, so he really has to repay the trust that he has been given. It's a big game for him and I am sure he absolutely knows that. And he's not alone. One point of interest for me over the weekend related to differing applications of the concussion protocols. Here, in Christchurch, we had Todd having to leave the field to get checked out for concussion. But in South Africa, we had two instances that concerned me and suggested the same rules are not being applied in different jurisdictions. The game between the Sharks and the Kings saw two Sharks players, Patrick Lambie and Rhyno Smith, clashing heads in a collision that saw both of them lay flat out on the ground for a good 30 seconds. They were clearly out of it, in "disneyland". Play stopped, and they came round and got to their feet; the medics threw some water on the players, who brushed it off and decided to carry on. Then there was the Bulls-Highlanders game in which Waisake Naholo and R.G. Snyman were both sent off as a result of shoulder clashes with the head of an opposing players; penalties were awarded but neither victim was taken off for a concussion test. That represents a huge double standard from my way of thinking. Both those games were refereed by home referees, but there needs to be some accountability and the doctors also need to put their hands up for the care of their players.  They have to over-do their care for their players; Lambie decided five to 10 minutes later that he couldn't carry on as he wasn't right, and pulled himself out of the game. You never leave that sort of decision up to the player. It should never, ever be the player's decision because we have professionals sitting on the sideline supposedly enacting those rules in the players' longer-term interests. Rugby is making all the right noises as the players are being looked after with these concussion laws, but we have these examples of people sitting there when it is blindingly obvious to see that a player has just been smacked in the head. There needs to be somebody who takes control and says, 'Right you are going for a mandatory concussion test'. I couldn't believe what I was seeing as the players carried on. We have all these concussion tests -- they are readily available and World Rugby has been quite clear on the matter -- but these guys just chose not to apply them. That aside, it was good to see the Blues clock up another win and play really well. They are playing with real confidence, and they look good. Scott Scrafton stood out again; he and Gerard Cowley-Tuioti might not be locks in the grand manner, but Scrafton is rugged and has a raw-boned edge to him. He made a couple of good runs and scored a good try. I guess you could say he has a bit of the old-fashioned mongrel in him.
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