Christchurch earthquake left Canterbury Crusaders ‘far too emotional’ in last trip to Super Rugby final

The devastating 2011 tremor hit the Crusaders close to home, and when they faced Queensland Reds in the Super Rugby final five months later, their coach says 'it all came to a head' in their loss.

The chaos caused by the deadly Christchurch earthquake in 2011 was a contributing factor in the Canterbury Crusaders’ defeat the last time the side reached the Super Rugby final, coach Todd Blackadder has suggested.

The February 22 earthquake, which claimed 185 lives, destroyed much of the central city of Christchurch and the team’s home base of Lancaster Park, forcing the Crusaders to play all of their games in that year’s campaign ‘on the road’.

Aftershocks from the earthquake and constant travel – they went to London for one regular season game – eventually took their toll on Blackadder’s side, who lost the final 18-13 to the Queensland Reds around five months after the disaster.

“We had been travelling around the world and we were far too emotional that week; it all came to a head,” Blackadder told the New Zealand Herald after his side advanced to this Saturday’s final against the New South Wales Waratahs.

“I think we’re in better shape this year, we’ve got a lot more time to get prepared for the game and all of those experiences we’ve had will serve us well.”

The Crusaders are the most successful team in Super Rugby history, having won seven titles, but none since Blackadder succeeded Robbie Deans after their last triumph in 2008.

The Brisbane defeat came on the only occasion they have been to the final since he took over and while the game was settled by a piece of individual brilliance by Queensland scrumhalf Will Genia, Blackadder said it had not cost them the final.

“The simple basics let us down,” he said of the loss to the Reds. “I look at the two tries they scored, they were around the ruck and it was simple systems stuff which we couldn’t execute under pressure.

“Finals footy, it isn’t going to be special things that win finals, it’s about doing the little things really well.

“Normally, what it comes down to is pressure and whether you can execute the basics right.”

While the Crusaders had not won the title since 2008 – when they beat the Waratahs in Christchurch in the Australian side’s last appearance in the final – they had made at least the semi-finals every year since.

In those other four seasons, they had lost to the eventual champions each time, the Blue Bulls in 2009 and 2010 and the Waikato Chiefs in 2012 and 2013.

That lack of relative success had only served to intensify the team’s hunger for the title, scrumhalf Andy Ellis said.

“There is a group of guys in the team who have not won a Super Rugby title,” he told Television New Zealand.

“We have set some goals at the start of the season and it has been a long time since the Crusaders won a title so we owe it to each other and to our fans.

“There is a lot of motivation there.

“We will wake up all week with butterflies in our stomach and that’s what rugby is all about.”

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