Reds ... are bundled out of the Super Rugby finals by the Crusaders. Source: Joseph Johnson / Getty Images
DEVASTATED captain James Horwill bluntly admitted the Reds had badly let down departing coach Ewen McKenzie with a shabby play-offs exit in Christchurch that was not worthy of being his farewell game.
| 4 Tries 0 | |
|---|---|
| Ryan Crotty 10' | |
| Daniel Carter 30' | |
| Tom Marshall 52' | |
| Ryan Crotty 67' | |
| 3 Conversions0 | |
| Daniel Carter 11' | |
| Daniel Carter 53' | |
| Daniel Carter 68' | |
| 4 Penalties3 | |
| Daniel Carter 4' | Quade Cooper 15' |
| Daniel Carter 26' | Quade Cooper 28' |
| Daniel Carter 40' | Quade Cooper 47' |
| Tom Taylor 73' | |
It wasn't just that the Reds were ruthlessly dismembered 38-9 by Dan Carter and a hot Crusaders outfit but the way the season unravelled.
A side which had backed its superb defence all season conceded four tries for the first time in 2013.
It started with the poor one-on-one tackle missed by centre Jono Lance with gave up an early 10-0 deficit and ceded any chance of the fast start plan that might have thrown a doubt in the minds of Kiwis.
McKenzie's go-to men Will Genia and Quade Cooper were blotted out of the qualifying final, as the Queenslanders were en masse, by an All Blacks-laden opposition which was too powerful up front, too skilled and too poised when the big scoring chances arose.
When the key one-percenters needed to be clinically dealt with, wingers Dom Shipperley and Luke Morahan both failed to dive on a dangerously bouncing ball in the lead-up to the final try.
The season was already gone at that stage but it was emblematic of being beaten by a far more clinical side.
"It's extremely disappointing not to play to the level we know we can, especially when we spoke that we didn't want this to be the last time some guys pulled on the Reds jersey," Horwill said with reference to departing trio Radike Samo, Lance and Morahan.
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"The coach has been a massive part of what this team has been about for the past four seasons and he deserved far better than that as a send-off."
It was a crushing end to four superb seasons at the helm for McKenzie. He departs for the Wallabies job with the 2011 Super Rugby title and a superb 68 per cent winning rate to show for it but that was no salve in a cold, desolate corner of New Zealand on Saturday night.
The Park Lane Retirement Home borders AMI Stadium. The ageless Samo, 37, showed no reason to check-in. He provided one of the few attacking sparks for the Reds with a 30m run in his second half farewell.
Young flanker Liam Gill was excellent and only the TMO denied him a second half try. While Crusaders big guns Kieran Read, Sam Whitelock and Carter fired on all turbos, the Reds big cannons were quiet.
Crusaders schemer Dan Carter was excellent but he had the storming forward platform ahead of him to dictate. He scored a fine try, threw the final pass for centre Ryan Crotty's second try and banged over six-from-eight with the boot.
Another Reds missed tackle between forwards Saia Faingaa and Jake Schatz let the rampaging Sam Whitelock ignite the superb crossing for Carter and the dire position.
The Crusaders only called on 116-Test warrior Richie McCaw for the final 15 minutes, a virtual victory lap because the sudden-death final had already been comprehensively decided.
Cooper was accomplished enough with the little he had to do in the opening 40 minutes. He rescued one tricky situation when he swooped on a kick in defence, he tackled, he kicked two-from-two and his general kicking was spot on. It was only when he had to run to chase the game from desperate situations that he got barrelled.
The crowd booed Cooper and did it with wicked relish when he was caught after the strongest Reds attacking period late in the game. The ball was hacked downfield and Carter and Crotty finished off.
The only real Cooper-Genia passing interchange in the 6C chill did not flicker until the 55th-minute and it was scuttled by a forward pass..
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