*





Manu Tuilagi smashes Tom Williams


Top14 player imposter!


JDV smashed by Benoit August


The Northampton Saints 30m scrum!


Bastareaud huge hit on Rory Lamont


All Blacks skills - Pt 2 In the backyard


Trinh-Duc sets up Harinordoquy try


Wales vs England 1999


Greg Holmes great hit on Francois Louw



Friday, April 01, 2011

Classic Encounters - Crusaders vs Sharks at Twickenham

On Sunday Twickenham witnessed a fantastic game of Super Rugby that served to help out Christchurch, who were hit by an earthquake recently. A try and report has already been posted, but here's longer highlights.

While the goal of the match was to raise funds for Christchurch's relief effort, the fixture has been criticised in some circles as accusations have been made of it being simply a commercial venture, 'dressed up in charity clothing'.

Indeed, it was said this week that after all expenses were covered, the amount of funding that will be heading in New Zealand's direction was a little disappointing. A percentage of gate revenue is meant to be going towards the Red Cross Christchurch Earthquake fund.

"The idea that this was a purely a commercial venture is nonsense," said the RFU.

"Hosting this game at Twickenham was about English rugby showing its support for the rugby family in New Zealand and the people of Christchurch who had been affected by the earthquake.

"The match and related fund-raising will have raised over £1 million for the Red Cross Christchurch Earthquake fund and the RFU intends to donate all profit we made for hosting the game to charities in both New Zealand and Japan."

There has been plenty of speculation about whether or not the fixture will be repeated after a healthy 35 094 turned up to witness a high quality game of rugby. At this stage it's unclear, as some of the English clubs felt it took away from their games.

Whatever the case, those who watched the full game, at the venue or on TV, will know that it was one of the best show pieces of rugby of the season. Speed, skill, and physicality, as well as a determined comeback, this game had it all.

On a sidenote, there will be no Pick of the Week best tries video this week, but next week it will include two rounds of tries packed into one.


Time: 06:02


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23 Comments:

  • FIRST!!
    /Södertälje

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 01, 2011 10:20 am  

  • The Sharks did a great job of marketing this game, they played so badly in the first half it made it look like an exhibition match, only with a lower crowd.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 01, 2011 10:24 am  

  • You may want to rewrite the info above the clip: Some Premiership clubs were unhappy? No, just Saracens. The other game was still full capacity (Northampton vs Wasps). I was at Twickers though, and it was an incredible game. It shows the two completely contrasting styles of game.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 01, 2011 10:29 am  

  • Saracens shuold quit complaining, they always have a rubbish turn out and are the club renowned for the cheap gimmick to get more people in. This is probably just another cheap stunt to get some media coverage.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 01, 2011 10:46 am  

  • That's some class offloading right there!

    By Blogger Bruno, at April 01, 2011 11:20 am  

  • It's pretty darn cold to say that this was a commercial stunt dressed up as charity.

    Of course it was good exposure for the SuperXV brand, it's almost a given that a game involving the Crusaders will be. But does anyone seriously want to argue that they wanted to end up playing at Twickenham under these circumstances?

    Having a charity element to the game was the only decent thing to do, and I'm sorry that they weren't able to bring in nearer the 50k spectators that would have made this event a commercial success for the Crusaders franchise. Surely no question that had they had more than 3 weeks to prepare for/market the event they would have gotten more people in.

    By Anonymous edbok, at April 01, 2011 11:46 am  

  • This website is so goddamn awesome!

    I'm out of the country and don't really get to see the rugby matches that I'd like to. I've always liked RD, but it's pretty much indispensable right now.

    By Anonymous e, at April 01, 2011 12:32 pm  

  • I don't care whether it was a publicity stunt or not. the money went to a good cause. And I bloody wish my dissertation hand in was a week earlier so I could have been there! looked like an awesome game!

    By Anonymous Russell, at April 01, 2011 1:17 pm  

  • "I don't care whether it was a publicity stunt or not. the money went to a good cause. "

    The majority of the money went to the Crusaders, if they're such a great team and rugby is so well loved in New Zealand, why is the NZRFU and the franchise in such a poor financial state?

    Tickets cost between £30-50 (low these days for a "premium" sporting event). Only £5 of that went to the earthquake appeal, I think the total raised for charity was something like £150,000? To put that into perspective, a bunch of gamers playing Team Fortress 2 recently earned £194,000 for the Japanese earthquake fund.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 01, 2011 2:45 pm  

  • Yeah, can't think why the crusaders might be in a poor financial state at the moment....

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 01, 2011 3:06 pm  

  • ^
    Does it not have to do with the loss of revenue this season? I mean, all their home games have been moved elsewhere, and this must have big bottom line implications.

    By Anonymous katman, at April 01, 2011 3:33 pm  

  • Oh, ignore me. You were being sarcastic.

    By Anonymous katman, at April 01, 2011 3:34 pm  

  • Just beautiful rugby. I was surprised at how badly the Sharks were beaten up front, especially at scrum and the breakdown. Matt Todd looks promising, playing really well with McCaw out.

    As far as the Crusaders backline, wow. Carter/SBW has to be the starting combo for the All Blacks come RWC time.

    By Blogger Douglas, at April 01, 2011 3:39 pm  

  • Hey, Anonymous at 2:45pm. How much money did you give up for charity recently? Must've been a lot for you to be so judgmental. That, or you're just an asshole.

    By Anonymous orange, at April 01, 2011 4:50 pm  

  • Anon @ 2.45 - "why is [...] the franchise in such a poor financial state?"

    Seriously? They invested big money in a new stadium which because of the earthquake is unuseable... Did that never occur to you?

    By Anonymous edbok, at April 01, 2011 5:08 pm  

  • I was at this game and Carter was awesome but how SBW didn't get man of the match is beyond me. I'd say the best centre in the world at the moment.

    By Anonymous bobby, at April 01, 2011 6:34 pm  

  • ok now i admit it SH rugby just pissed on NH rugby that was brilliant 10/10 gutted i live in the NH so envious!
    but £5 off a £30-40 ticket is devestating i think the RFU is to blame for that and should hang their gready heads in shame should have been at least £15-20 from every ticket. that was one of the reasons they played the bloody match! pull your fingers out whoever you are!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 01, 2011 7:00 pm  

  • "Does it not have to do with the loss of revenue this season? I mean, all their home games have been moved elsewhere, and this must have big bottom line implications."

    It's nothing to do with the earthquake, the NZRFU and the franchises have been in a mess for a while.

    The NZRFU is massively in debt.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 01, 2011 7:41 pm  

  • "The financially struggling Waikato Rugby Union has asked the Hamilton City Council to write off $400,000 of a nearly $1 million debt it owes the council."

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 01, 2011 7:42 pm  

  • don't forget NZ is a LOT LESS wealthy than the U.K. and Ireland, on top of being devestated by the earthquake

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 01, 2011 9:03 pm  

  • Come on George, that could've have been a 80-metre try! Reckon he should've pumped everything into the legs to chance on the momentum.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 02, 2011 7:50 am  

  • While the Crusaders' match at Twickenham last Sunday proved an on-field success, the Super Rugby franchise says it was not the financial lifeline it hoped for

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 02, 2011 1:01 pm  

  • However, the 35,094 crowd at the first Super Rugby match ever played outside the southern hemisphere fell well short of the 55,000 anticipated - leaving the competition's most successful team in a financial hole.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 02, 2011 1:01 pm  

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