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Israel Dagg blasts Crusaders, weighs in on Rob Penney's future
Former Crusaders fullback Israel Dagg has joined the growing chorus of fans and pundits in finally conceding the reigning Super Rugby Pacific champions’ standing at the bottom of the table is a fair reflection of the team’s current quality.
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It’s taken seven losses with just one win for the 2011 Rugby World Cup winner to have his hope of an eighth title in as many years squashed. The weekend’s hefty 37-15 loss to fellow bottom dwellers the Western Force appears to have proven too much for even the most optimistic Crusaders fans to overlook.
With results taking a sour turn in 2024, new coach Rob Penney has quickly found himself in the firing line.
As Dagg bluntly illustrated when reacting to the loss, the evidence of the team’s flaws is vast.
“It’s a difficult time for the Crusaders at the moment,” Dagg said on SENZ Breakfast. “37-15, after a start where Sevu Reece makes a break, Levi Aumua scores first and you think ok, they might have turned a corner here. But, man, the game just unravelled for them.
“They were penalised heavily; they’re the most penalised team in the competition and a lot of those penalties are in their control.
“For seven years they never had a maul try scored against them. On the weekend, they had three tries scored against them by the Western Force; who in that forward pack is going to be in the Wallabies? Probably none if I’m going to be completely honest.
“They miss the most tackles in the competition. They’re at the bottom of the table in all stats.
“They have the worst lineout success in the competition. And that’s going from winning competitions with arguably the greatest lock combination in Super Rugby. You’ve got Scott Barrett out, Sam Whitelock’s gone. It is not happy hunting for the Crusaders at the moment.
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“They get Codie Taylor back this week, but is that going to be enough? Probably not.
“It was hard to watch. Defensively, we’re lacking any passion, we’re lacking any certainty.
“You start to feel for Rob Penney because the finger is being pointed at him, but most of this is within the players’ control; 16 penalties, most of them for offside ruck infringements, that’s player decision-making that has been putting their team under so much pressure.
“Look, it was poor. It was disappointing. I’ll have to concede and say this is probably going to be a difficult year.
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“I thought they may have turned a corner, but you lose to the Waratahs and you are deflated, you spend a whole week together and then you put out a performance like that. It was disappointing.”
Even with the team going from hero to zero, Dagg argued it’s hard to see the coach paying the price, questioning whether a Crusaders coach had ever been fired for poor results.
Joining Penney in the coach’s box is a relatively young group consisting of James Marshall, Dan Perrin, the only recently retired Matt Todd and the man rumoured to be the future Crusaders head coach, Tamati Ellison.
Ellison appears to be the most likely candidate within that group to step up if Penney were to be dismissed, but the club could also look outside that crew for some more veteran mentorship to help develop the youthful environment.
“They’re a really inexperienced coaching group,” Dagg added. “Are you just setting them up to fail? They’ve got nothing to lose. Nothing to lose and those conversations will be had.
“A lot of people will be asking for Rob Penney to move on. I went through the socials yesterday and I was having a read and a lot of them were pointing the finger at Rob Penney, but also pointing the finger at a lot of players. For me, it’s probably more about player accountability.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Ben Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
86 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
3 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to comments