Antidote NZ

It was a great physical encounter and the Lions have to be congratulated . I hope the NZ sides take notice of how fit the Lions were and that they competed even after the hooter . No late game fade as in the past .

Sorry Mr de Bruin (and you can chuck Mr Blackadder in there too) but Razor is simply out-coaching you. He has the ears of the players, can be ruthless in selection, and that driving against the Lions line-out/maul was just outstanding and symptomatic of his innovative style.Make no mistake, he has enhanced the culture of this team. The defend for each other, have excellent feel in their combinations, and players like Bryn Hall, unwanted in Auckland 2 seasons ago, are making every post a winner.When their second wave enters the fray from the pine things only ratchet up and their try in the period where Crotty was sin-binned is a perfect example of their composure and belief. And despite losing some serious talent it wouldnt be silly to chuck a tenner on them for next season...

Thats not arrogance....thats jubilation with heaps of pride and enthusiasm pal...!!!

ryan crotty shouldnt have been carded.the crusaders were always going to be epanlised more, they were starved of posession and territory for long periods. fact is the crusaders socred every single time they were down that end. too many penalties or cards will never change that fact.so how about some congratulations for the side whove now won 3x as many titles as the blue and bulls - or are you still sucking those sour grapes.?

Good point.The reason they were so one-dimensional is the excellent execution of Razors coaching though.The Crusaders knew the maul was coming and blew it away. They knew the Lions penchant for possession by isolation and turn-over. But it was the Crusaders who were 9-0 in that department in the 1st half.They kept Marx, Jantes and Smith out of the game largely and their defense was well... stellar. If you watch a replay, see how quickly the Crusaders defenders got back their line.This is a good Lions side who deserved to be there but they were out-coached, out-thought and thoroughly bested.

By celebrating a win in the final by scoring more tries than the Hurricanes could against the same opponent in their title win.?

Aaaaaand . . . the bitterness continues . . .

they were quite good, just didnt play to the strengths they needed to, they ended up quite one dimensional, using their big forwards by starving the crusaders of ball. clever, but they then didnt use the speed and space to capitalise on tired players. its a shame, but go the crusaders.

The defending team usually gets penalized more and the Lions had over 60% of possession. Ãs for the number of yellow cards during the season, if the majority were cynical then maybe you have a point.

Agree , there is no need for it

I was disappointed in the spectators booing when the opposition took penalty kicks.They dont even do that in South Africa any more. Totally unnecessary and childish. Surely one does not need to do this when you have such a strong team and home town advantage. Just saying. The better team obviously won, but spectators need to mature and grow up.

nice one and now they put us to sleep

I enjoyed that game a lot. Hope to see a Crusaders vs Lions final for a third year in a row.

Surely your last sentence isnt serious? Youre joking right?

Crusaders are a great team and have a brilliant coach. I just cant stick their arrogant supporters!

Even if they double this amount I still would not support them after being in Christchurch for a game

The elephant in the room,--the Crusaders conceded 15 penalties to the Lions 6. The Crusaders joint first for the number of yellow cards for the season-10 while the Lions only had 1, in fact, the Lions had the best disciplinary record in the competition. At what stage do you start calling the Crusaders out for deliberately flouting the laws of the game and acknowledging it as a major part of their gameplan and success.