Crusaders rout rabble Reds

The Crusaders put down a big marker when they routed a very poor Reds team 57-29 in Brisbane on Sunday.

The Round 13 Super Rugby outing is the first time the Crusaders had scored 50 points or more on Australian soil.

And in-form All Black flyhalf Colin Slade kicked 11 from 11 for the seven-time champions in the record win.

It was also the highest-scoring Super Rugby match ever played at the Suncorp Stadium.

But more importantly it saw the Crusaders move into fourth place on the global standings and second in a very congested New Zealand conference.

It was a 20-minute blitz by the Crusaders in the second half that saw the Reds rooted to bottom of the Australian conference table.

Trailing 16-17 at the break, the Crusaders scored 31 unanswered points in the first 20 minutes after the break to end the game as a contest.

The Crusaders scored five of their six tries in that second half - with wings Johnny McNicholl and Nemani Nadolo getting two tries each.

The Reds eventually salvaged a four-try bonus point, but are still firmly rooted at the bottom of the Aussie conference.

And for the third week in a row the Queensland franchise was badly exposed, overpowered and out-skilled by a Kiwi opponent.

The Reds' play bordered on shambolic at times in the second half, as the Crusaders clinically punished a litany of errors.

The Crusaders' scrum outmuscled the home side and set the platform for the second-half rout.

The Reds showed some promise in an exciting first half, jumping to a 17-10 lead with two sweet backline tries - both coming while the visitors were down a man, with scrumhalf Andy Ellis in the sin bin for repeated infringements by him and his teammates at the breakdown.

However, the Crusaders' second-half rout ended a 20-match run by the Reds of winning home games when leading at half-time.

It was sparked by prop Wyatt Crockett's 43rd minute try, when he caught out lazy defenders from a quick tap.

Two minutes later wing Johnny McNichol crossed for the first of his two tries after a terrible kick and chase by the lethargic Reds.

The Reds were effectively killed off when no players contested a high ball on halfway and No.8 Luke Whitelock sprinted away and the Reds were made to pay for another ridiculous chip-kick when Nemani Nadolo got his second five-pointer.

There's some late razzle-dazzle from the Reds, but again they paid the price for a turnover, as McNicholl got his second five-pointer for the visitors.

Quade Cooper did set up three of the Reds tries, but also delivered a poor second-half display which included an easy try for McNichol.

Man of the match: Israel Dagg made the Reds pay for their sloppy kick-'n-chase work, Johnny McNicholl and Nemani Nadolo deserve a mention for their finishing, if nothing else, Luke Whitelock had one of his better games for some time, Richie McCaw was ... well Richie McCaw, involved in lots and in trouble at times. However, our award goes to Crusaders flyhalf Colin Slade - who produced a perfect 11 from 11 with his goal-kicking (six conversions and five penalties), six kicks out of hand (all very effective), 19 passes and making nine runs for 50-odd metres.

The scorers:

For the Reds:

Tries: Taulagi, Shipperley, Davies, Simmons

Cons: Cooper 3

Pen: Cooper

For the Crusaders:

Tries: Nadolo 2, Crockett, McNicholl 2, L Whitelock

Cons: Slade 6

Pens: Slade 5

Yellow card: Andy Ellis (Crusaders, 15 - repeated infringements at the breakdown)

Teams:

Reds: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Anthony Fainga'a, 11 Jamie-Jerry Taulagi, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Beau Robinson, 6 Curtis Browning, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 James Hanson, 1 Ben Daley.

Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Albert Anae, 18 Jono Owen, 19 Ed O'Donoghue, 20 Dave McDuling, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Ben Lucas, 23 Rod Davies.

Crusaders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Ryan Crotty (captain), 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jordan Taufua, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.

Replacements: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Jimmy Tupou, 20 George Whitelock, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Tyler Bleyendaal, 23 Nafi Tuitavake.

Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Rohan Hoffmann (Australia), Damien Mitchelmore (Australia)

TMO: Steve Leszczynski (Australia)