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By Wayne Smith
March 07, 2008
THE Crusaders might have the best defensive record in the competition, having conceded just one try this season, but they are bracing for their toughest test yet on Sunday against Western Force in Perth.
Crusaders coach Robbie Deans feigned ignorance when reminded his side had shut out the Brumbies and Stormers, and only gifted the Bulls a solitary consolation try. "Really?" Deans dead-panned. "I'm not counting."
But what the Crusaders are counting on is Force five-eighth Matt Giteau asking a lot more questions of their defence than did the Brumbies' Christian Lealiifano on debut in Christchurch, Bulls No.10 Derick Hougaard or Stormers playmaker Peter Grant in Cape Town.
If aesthetics alone produced tries, the Perth side might even be ahead of the Blues who have started the season with a flourish, scoring 18 in three games.
Yet, as attractively as they have played, Force have crossed only four times and if they are to improve on their only other Subiaco meeting with the Crusaders, the notorious 23-all draw of 2006, they will need to be far more clinical in finishing off their linebreaks.
Giteau is convinced a breakthrough performance is coming.
"From our backline point of view, everyone is feeling very confident," Giteau said. "I guess when you look at it, there's a lot of experience there with guys like Drew Mitchell, Cameron Shepherd and Scott Staniforth."
But Giteau credits league convert Ryan Cross with providing much of the attacking thrust this year.
"He's in his second season of rugby now and he's really taking a leadership role. He got a lot of touches against the Lions last weekend and ended up being man of the match," Giteau said.
Not that anyone is thinking of the Wallabies at this stage of the season, least of all incoming coach Deans, but on early form Cross has staked by far the strongest claim of any contender to the 13 jersey should Stirling Mortlock make the switch to inside centre. Certainly, that would make for an intimidating midfield. Just how much creativity such a pairing might generate is another matter.
Force hopes surged on Thursday when word filtered through that Crusaders and New Zealand captain Richie McCaw and New Zealand second-rower Ali Williams had withdrawn from training.
But the Crusaders revealed McCaw was troubled by nothing more than a tender adductor muscle while Williams was feeling slightly off-colour. Both will be named today.
Only Kade Poki, who strained a hamstring in last weekend's 22-0 shut-out of the Stormers, has been ruled out of the visitors' side, but rugby rarity Scott Hamilton, one of the few white New Zealanders to play on the wing for the All Blacks in recent years, will return.
While Perth seems to suffer from general amnesia where last year's clash between these two sides is concerned - the Force turning in a rare shocker to lose 53-0 in Christchurch - memories of the 2006 meeting at Subiaco remain sharp and painful.
At that point in their debut season, Force were still searching for their first win. So it was all the more excruciating that the new club was denied the scalp of the best team in the competition by an amazing decision from television match official Geoff Acton.
Winger Haig Sare, when he was noted for his speed not for fighting with teammates, had sprinted down the right touchline in the dying seconds to score what seemed to be a match-winning try, but to the astonishment of 40,000 Subiaco fans and millions of television viewers, Acton refused to confirm the touchdown.
"It was a bad decision," ARU referees boss Peter Marshall later confessed. Too late. The moment had passed, and with it the Force's chance to make history.
When the Perth club registered their first official victory a fortnight later, against the lowly Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, it didn't have quite the same cachet as beating the eventual champions.
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Was the wait worth it - Ya betta baby 
hopefuly not all wearing red and their people comming out of woodwork because of the Force's good start to the season
Originally Posted by jargan83
