Super Rugby: Canterbury Crusaders find form to crush the Bulls
Canterbury Crusaders got off the mark in this season's Super Rugby with a 41-19 victory over the Bulls in Christchurch.
Last Updated: 16/03/13 12:45pm
After losing their opening two matches, things finally clicked for the seven-time champions as they turned on the style against the high-flying Bulls, scoring six tries in their first home match of the season.
Robbie Fruean, Kieran Read, Johnny McNicholl and Tom Marshall secured a four-try bonus point by the 45th minute before prop Wyatt Crockett and Willi Heinz added to the tally.
The Bulls, who had won their opening three games including a maiden Eden Park success against the Blues last week, touched down only once near the end through Ryan Stegmann. Their other points coming from the boot of Morne Steyn.
Intent
"I think that first half probably showed our intent but we didn't look after the ball as much as we needed to," Read said. "The effort there was great and we just finished off at the end of the first half which was nice."
Bulls captain Pierre Spies sain: "In the lineouts they were very good. The scrums they also put us under pressure.
"Also, we couldn't get out of our half. We kept playing in our own half and you can't build any proper momentum so credit to them for that."