{"id":1008942,"date":"2026-06-06T10:11:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T10:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1008942\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T10:11:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T10:11:33","slug":"crusaders-player-ratings-v-blues-johnny-mcnicholl-and-all-blacks-forwards-shine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1008942\/","title":{"rendered":"Crusaders player ratings v Blues: Johnny McNicholl and All Blacks forwards shine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Following the Crusaders\u2019 52-31 victory over the Blues, here\u2019s how we rated Rob Penney\u2019s men in the Super Rugby Pacific Qualifying Final in Christchurch.<\/b><\/p>\n

Crusaders player ratings v Blues<\/p>\n

15 Johnny McNicholl:<\/b> 35 years young and has filled the void of Will Jordan superbly. He scored three stunning tries today but was excellent in everything he did. Solid under the high ball, threatening with ball in hand, ran great support lines and even made a clutch cover tackle on the hour mark. Form is temporary, class is permanent, and McNicholl is all class. 9<\/b><\/p>\n

14 Chay Fihaki:<\/b> Sharp, sharp finish on the hour mark and he made good decisions in the build-up to Reece\u2019s early try. He had very few opportunities with ball in hand all game but fared well under the high ball and defensively. 6<\/b><\/p>\n

13 Dallas McLeod:<\/b> One of several players who didn\u2019t make it past the first quarter. The midfielder played a part in Reece\u2019s try and put in a decent overall shift before he was forced off with an injury. 6<\/b><\/p>\n

12 David Havili (c):<\/b> A proper captain\u2019s knock. Solid in defence, excellent in attack and had real standout moments at telling times that took the game out of the Blues\u2019 reach. He sensationally set-up McNicholl\u2019s second try and brilliantly held up Anton Segner in the 51st minute. He also crossed for a try. 8<\/b><\/p>\n

11 Sevu Reece:<\/b> Scored his 74th try in Super Rugby<\/a> ahead of his departure to Perpignan but overall, it was a solid performance from the winger under the high ball. He assisted Fihaki\u2019s try with a very average pass but it worked. 6<\/b><\/p>\n

10 Taha Kemara:<\/b> Ran an incredibly accurate and ruthless attack that ripped the Blues<\/a>\u2018 defence to shreds. While he was on the pitch, the Crusaders<\/a> averaged 4.4 points per entry into the Blues\u2019 22, and he played a pivotal role in that success rate, organising the attack and striking himself. He kicked well off the tee, missing just one shot at goal, and his open play kicking was of a high standard too. His combination with Havili will be crucial for the Crusaders going forward, as proven again today. He departed proceedings with his team boasting a 26-point buffer and played a big part in that lead. 7<\/b><\/p>\n

9 Noah Hotham:<\/b> Played a good supporting role for Kemara in what was a strong performance from the All Blacks<\/a> scrum-half. He went about his work with little fuss and errors while kicking reasonably well from the rucks. Made way for Kyle Preston early in the second half when the Crusaders were comfortably in front. 6<\/b><\/p>\n

Crusaders v Blues: Five takeaways as \u2018ruthless\u2019 champions, inspired by All Blacks snubs, punish \u2018truly terrible tackle\u2019 to extend insane record<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hurricanes v Brumbies: Five takeaways as All Blacks stars flex \u2018clear gulf in class\u2019 to \u2018humiliate\u2019 Aussies in record Super Rugby Pacific thrashing<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The forwards<\/p>\n

8 Christian Lio-Willie:<\/b> A head knock interrupted what was a special performance from the Crusaders back-rower who will be hoping to get a call from Dave Rennie in the coming weeks. His first 50-odd minutes on the park included an exquisite Sonny Bill Williams-esque offload for McNicholl to slice through the Aucklanders\u2019 defence, and his handling was equally impressive for Kemara\u2019s score. He muscled up when carrying to the line too and pitched in with 15 tackles. He returned in the final quarter of the match and continued his fine form to see the \u2018Saders over the line. 8<\/b><\/p>\n

7 Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku:<\/b> Less blockbuster than some of his other performances on the side of the scrum but no less important. He made a massive carry and offload in the build-up to Havili\u2019s try. Competed well on the deck and enjoyed another strong outing on the whole. 7<\/b><\/p>\n

6 Ethan Blackadder:<\/b> A classy 63 minutes from the All Blacks back-rower who has been in brilliant form since his return from injury. He combined stunningly with Lio-Willie to set-up one of McNicholl\u2019s try. He denied AJ Lam a score with some sensational defence and gained even more ground for the Crusaders soon after ripping possession off the Blues. Led the tackle count when he was on the park, finishing with 24 and is bound to come into the All Blacks conversation again this year and rightly so. 8<\/b><\/p>\n

Brumbies player ratings: Wallabies rookie \u2018best of a bad bunch\u2019 in \u2018humiliating\u2019 play-off defeat to Hurricanes<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

5 Jamie Hannah:<\/b> A gorgeous offload led to the Crusaders\u2019 first try of the game and a superb Pita Ahki tackle denied him the chance to repeat the feat. He showed his athleticism with some great carries in the tram lines but got stuck into the grunt work in the middle of the park too. 7<\/b><\/p>\n

4 Antonio Shalfoon:<\/b> Some excellent lineout play from the lock who troubled the Blues\u2019 set-piece, made his tackles and carried strongly. Very much a job done and done well kind of shift from the 28-year-old. 6<\/b><\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

3 George Bower:<\/b> A real asset for the Canterbury club with his ability to switch between loosehead and tighthead prop. He performed solidly in the latter today, with the scrums not having a major influence on the game, which is a real feather in his cap considering he went up against Ofa Tu\u2019ungafasi. Returned in the last 13 minutes to finish the game out at loosehead. 7<\/b><\/p>\n

2 Codie Taylor:<\/b> Tipped as a potential All Blacks skipper, Taylor had somewhat of an uncharacteristic performance with a few wayward lineout throws and a few handling errors. Still, it wasn\u2019t all bad as he had strong carries throughout his shift and was mammoth on defence. 5<\/b><\/p>\n

1 Finlay Brewis:<\/b> The scrum honours were even for the hour that Brewis was on the park. The loosehead prop held his own against Marcel Renata and put in a massive defensive shift, making 18 tackles. He can hold his head high for his efforts. 7<\/b><\/p>\n

Replacements:<\/b> The Blues improved in the latter stages of the game and much of that had to do with the Crusaders being so far ahead but also because the impact from the bench was rather average. Braydon Ennor impressed as did Kyle Preston but Penney will demand better in the semi-final. 5<\/b><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Hurricanes player ratings: \u2018World-class\u2019 Jordie Barrett in another \u2018silky smooth\u2019 display as All Blacks powerhouse set for \u2018big year\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following the Crusaders\u2019 52-31 victory over the Blues, here\u2019s how we rated Rob Penney\u2019s men in the Super…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1008943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4102],"tags":[13877,10262,126,225,704,12,4151,79,10264,16,15],"class_list":["post-1008942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-blues","tag-crusaders","tag-features","tag-home-page","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-super-rugby","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116702629456675130","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1008942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1008943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1008942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1008942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1008942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}