Super Rugby Pacific: Crusaders unconvincing 42-17 winners over Rebels

Analysis: At the halftime break you wished you could feed your TV remote to the fishes.

In the second half, you were thankful you hadn’t. Kind of.

Having to view the first 4src minutes of the Super Rugby Pacific contest between the Crusaders and Rebels in Melbourne on Sunday night was like having to listen to a windbag talk constantly about himself while stuck in a traffic snarl. During a heat wave. With no air conditioning.

You get the picture. Yep, the Crusaders cruised in for a 42-17 bonus-point victory at AAMI Stadium, but it pays not to get too excited about the final score unless you know about the full performance.

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The Crusaders, after their loss to the Blues last weekend, were supposed to up for this. Big time. Their pride hadn’t just been bruised by the first defeat to the Blues in Christchurch since 2srcsrc4 – it had been lashed with a barbed wire whip.

Or so we thought. Because in the first half, the Crusaders looked as if they had stumbled out of a party bus.

Mistakes? There was a heap. Nine by the Crusaders, 1src from the Rebels. And that, really, only told