The Toyota Cheetahs’ fairytale season came to an agonising end as they lost their maiden Vodacom Super Rugby play-off match against the Brumbies in Canberra Stadium on Sunday morning (SA time).

Despite being outscored by two tries to nil, the Brumbies’ nail-biting 15-13 victory in the second Qualifier in Australia’s capital means they now have to travel to Pretoria to take on the Vodacom Bulls in one of the two semi-finals, on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld.

Vodacom Super Rugby Semi-finals:

Chiefs v Crusaders
Date: Saturday 27 July 2013
Venue: Waikato Stadium, Waikato
SA kick-off time: 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT)

Vodacom Bulls v Brumbies
Date: Saturday 27 July 2013
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
SA kick-off time: 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT)

Only 3 matches remain in Super Rugby 2013, the 2 semi-finals and the final a week later.

Crusaders 38 / 9 Reds:

The first semi-final is an all-New Zealand affair in Hamilton between the defending champion Chiefs and the seven-time champions Crusaders, who were much too strong for the Reds in their one-sided Qualifier on Saturday morning (38-9).

The Crusaders sounded an ominous warning when they summarily dispatched the Reds, 38-9, to march into the Super Rugby semifinals.

The Crusaders may have appeared in the play-offs 14 times in the last 15 years, but they have not won the competition since 2008.

However, based on Saturday’s performance they look like a team that can go all the way.

The Reds, who have not won in Christchurch since 1999, were full of hope of a clean sweep against New Zealand teams.

However, on Saturday they were swept off the park by a Crusaders team in sublime form and looking a good bet for collecting an unprecedented eighth Super Rugby title. The Crusaders were far more effective in retaining possession and launching counter attacks from deep, while their set pieces were also more solid than the rickety Reds. With their tight forwards dominating the contact area, the Reds constantly received ball on the back foot and then turned it over far too frequently. Add to that the Reds’ sloppy midfield defence and the visitors were in trouble from early in the game.

Another troublesome tactic for the Reds was having Quade Cooper sitting deep, at fullback, on defence. He was reduced to kicking balls back at the Crusaders for most part. And when he did have the ball in hand, he was no more than a distributor, not asking any questions of the Crusaders. The visitors were also far too predictable in the way they continued to play off Will Genia, with the Crusaders’ defenders easily dealing with the numerous one-off runners and succeeding in slowing down possession. It allowed the Crusaders to fan out on defence, without having to commit numbers to the tackle or breakdown.

In stark contrast the Crusaders seemed to be able to create extra numbers out wide with ease, as their slick passing game constantly caused the Reds to scramble on defence. The opening two minutes saw the Crusaders retain the ball through multiple phases, before Ben Tapuai rushed off-side in desperation. Dan Carter, from just over 40 metres out, slotted the penalty to give his team an early lead. From the restart Dominic Shipperley, chasing up hard, collided with the shoulder of Israel Dagg – causing a lengthy delay, before he eventually got back to his feet and carried on playing.

The Reds had a brief period of possession, before the Reds launched another furious raid. Kieran Read went close, with the TMO saying pictures were ‘inconclusive’, before Carter put Ryan Crotty through a hole and over for the first try. When Carter added the conversion, the Crusaders had a 10-0 lead – after just 11 minutes.

Crotty went from hero to villain minutes later when he played the ball on the ground inside his own 22 and Quade Cooper slotted the penalty to narrow the gap to 3-10. Ben Lucas had a long-range shot in the 18th minute, after another breakdown penalty, but he hooked it past the left upright. Chris Feauai-Sautia was penalised at the tackle as the game moved into the second quarter, but this time Carter was short from just on 50 metres out.

When James Slipper was penalised at a scrum in the 24th minute, Carter made it 13-3, but almost immediately Wyatt Crockett handed a penalty back to the Reds for offside and Cooper reclaimed the three points – 6-13. However, the Crusaders hit back in the most emphatic fashion – a sublime try by Dan Carter, coming after Sam Whitelock had made the initial bust and the Crusaders came sweeping up in numbers. Carter couldn’t add the extras, but at 18-6 it was beginning to look ominous. Just before the break the Crusaders blew through a ruck and won a penalty, which Carter turned into three points (21-6), before the Crusaders launched another raid on the Reds line with a set-piece move from inside their own half. Even though Kieran Read was over the line, the MO could not find a grounding and they took that 15-point lead into half-time.

Cooper had an early shot at goal in the second half, after the Crusaders advanced ahead of the kicker, but he was well wide. However, he got another chance minutes later, after a breakdown penalty in front of the Crusaders’ posts, and narrowed the gap to 9-21. Again the Crusaders’ response was sensational – with Tom Marshall getting the try, after Dagg had put Wyatt Crockett into space and he managed to offload to Marshall. The Carter conversion made it 28-9. The Reds did not give up and they went close as the game moved into the final quarter, only to be denied by the MO – as there was ‘no clear evidence of the ball being grounded’.

And the Crusaders then rubbed salt into the festering Reds wounds – as a spilled ball was hacked upfield and the chasing Crusaders forcing the Reds to scramble the ball into touch near their 22. From the resulting line-out Carter’s creative skills were instrumental in Crotty getting his second try. Carter added the conversion (35-9), before being replaced. That became 38-9, when Tom Taylor kicked a penalty 10 minutes from time. And that is how it stayed to the end.

Scorers:

Crusaders – Tries: Ryan Crotty (2), Dan Carter, Tom Marshall. Conversions: Carter (3). Penalty goals: Carter (3).

Reds – Penalty goals: Quade Cooper (3).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhoGfuS1fFE[/youtube]

Brumbies (6) 15 / 13 (5) Toyota Cheetahs:

Firstly, congratulations to an inspired Toyota Cheetahs side for a stellar season, it was massive and the rugby played was top-drawer! However, there had to be a loser in the game on Saturday and despite outscoring the Brumbies by 2 tries to none, the Brumbies won a squeecky victory, by 15 / 13.

This was the Toyota Cheetahs’ first defeat to an Australian team this season, their best campaign since their Cats partnership with the MTN Lions came to an end after the 2005 season.

Although it ended in defeat in Canberra, 2013 was a monumental year for the Toyota Cheetahs:

• They finished second in the South African Conference and reached the play-offs for the first time.
• The three wins on their Australasian tour was their best ever.
• For the first time, they scored more tries than they conceded – scored 40 and conceded 32 (in 2011 they scored 44, but conceded 49).
• The 32 tries they conceded in 17 matches is the least ever (their previous best was 37 in 13 matches in 2007).
• Their average score of 23-22 in 2013 is the first time they had a “winning” average score (next best was 27-27 in 2011).
• It was the first time they won more matches than they lost – P17, W10, L7 (previous best was in 2010 – P13, W5, L7, D1).
• Their 10 victories in one season is twice as many as their previous best of five (achieved in 2006, 2010, 2011 and 2012).

An unconverted last-minute try by Ryno Benjamin was not enough as the Toyota Cheetahs’ first-ever Vodacom Super Rugby play-off appearance ended in heartbreak in Canberra as the Brumbies won the second qualifier by 15-13 on Sunday morning.

The visitors from Central South Africa were heavily penalised which meant they struggled to get momentum until late in the game.

By the time the Toyota Cheetahs built up some steam, it was already too late as they were trialling by seven points. They applied the pressure late in the game and when replacement wing Benjamin dived over in the corner, Riaan Smit (flyhalf) had a difficult conversion to push the game into extra time.

Unfortunately Smit missed by inches and the Brumbies could celebrate a win in a match where they made the most of their penalty opportunities.

Toyota Cheetahs centre Johann Sadie scored the only other try of the match when he went over in the 17th minute try after a great flat pass by wing Willie le Roux. Smit missed the wide conversion – his second failed attempt of the match after missing an earlier penalty goal.

Although the Toyota Cheetahs defended very well throughout the match, they were ultimately undone by a stream of penalties, especially at the breakdowns and scrum time. The visitors conceded 14 penalties in total, five of which were converted into points by the Brumbies’ kickers, Christian Lealiifano and Nic White.

It was also not best tactical kicking display of the season from the Toyota Cheetahs, which compounded their territorial woes.

Scorers:

Brumbies – Penalty goals: Christian Lealiifano (4), Nic White.

Toyota Cheetahs – Tries: Johann Sadie, Ryno Benjamin. Penalty goal: Riaan Smit.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGloi2G7wDI[/youtube]