Tate McDermott says the Reds have got a week to fix up their “ball security” after a first-half horror show across the ditch against the Crusaders saw them suffer an “incredibly disappointing” 43-19 loss on Sunday afternoon.
The Reds went across the ditch hoping to make it consecutive wins in Christchurch after breaking their 25-year drought last year, but those hopes were blown away in 40 minutes as the Crusaders put on a first-half clinic by running in five first-half tries on a beautiful sunny afternoon.
Despite playing with plenty of ambition, the Reds were way too loose and conceded nine turnovers to ensure they never stood a chance against the resurging New Zealand Super Rugby side.
With their set-piece crumbling against an All Blacks heavy tight-five, including Tamaiti Williams, Codie Taylor and Scott Barrett, it made for a difficult afternoon for the previously unbeaten Reds side, who had beaten Moana Pasifika and the Force during the opening few rounds.
Will Jordan crossed for a first half double against the Reds during their big win at Apollo Projects Stadium on March 09, 2025. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
While the Reds managed to stem the bleeding after half-time, the tightness in the second half had more to do with the Crusaders’ hands letting them down in promising positions than any great hope of a revival.
“Obviously incredibly disappointing,” McDermott said.
“We had some really good patches out there but we were too quiet, and we were our own worst enemies at times. We’ve got to own that, it’s not the end of the world, but we’ve got to make sure we find out the missing pieces.
“There’s not much in it, I know there’s a lot on the scoreboard, but for us there’s a couple of breakaway tries that are easy fixes for us.”
Despite conceding seven tries, including six inside the opening 43 minutes, the Reds did manage to fire plenty of shots along the way.
Indeed, they made more linebreaks (8) than the Crusaders (5), with locks Josh Canham and Ryan Smith combining well, but the inability to recycle position because of a pushed pass hurt them.
“We were just too loose with the ball in hand,” McDermott added.
“Plenty of times we were in a good position but then we’d chance our hand with a 50-50 offload and we’d find ourselves right back down our end.”
All Blacks duo Will Jordan and Sevu Reece were the chief destroyers for the Crusaders, with the outside backs each crossing for a first-half double.
Along the way Reece moved up into outright third on the all-time Super Rugby tryscoring list on 61. He’s now just four tries short of the competition’s greatest tryscorer, TJ Perenara.
Naturally, Crusaders coach Rob Penney, who endured a horror first year back with the kings of Super Rugby, was delighted with their response after having a bye-round to stew over their round two loss to the Chiefs.
“I think we’re all pretty content with it,” he said.
“Coming off the bye, it’s sometimes difficult to get your rhythm back, but the boys settled in and I’m proud of the effort and energy they put in, and they got the rewards against a really good Reds side.”
