Tate McDermott says the Reds have got a week to fix up their “ball security” after a first-half horror show against the Crusaders saw them suffer an “incredibly disappointing” 43-19 loss across the ditch on Sunday afternoon.
The Reds went across the Tasman hoping to make it consecutive wins in Christchurch after breaking their 25-year drought last year, but those hopes were blown away in 40 minutes as the Crusaders put on a first-half clinic by running in five tries on a beautiful sunny afternoon.
Despite playing with plenty of ambition, the Reds were way too loose and conceded nine turnovers to ensure they never stood a chance against the resurging New Zealand Super Rugby side.
With their set-piece crumbling against an All Blacks heavy tight-five, including Tamaiti Williams, Codie Taylor and Scott Barrett, it made for a difficult afternoon for the previously unbeaten Reds side, who had beaten Moana Pasifika and the Force during the opening few rounds.
Will Jordan crossed for a first half double against the Reds during their big win at Apollo Projects Stadium on March 09, 2025. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
While the Reds managed to stem the bleeding after half-time, the tightness in the second half had more to do with the Crusaders’ hands letting them down in promising positions than any great hope of a revival.
“Obviously, incredibly disappointing,” McDermott said.
“We had some really good patches out there but we were too quiet, and we were our own worst enemies at times. We’ve got to own that, it’s not the end of the world, but we’ve got to make sure we find out the missing pieces.
“There’s not much in it, I know there’s a lot on the scoreboard, but for us there’s a couple of breakaway tries that are easy fixes for us.”
Despite conceding seven tries, including six inside the opening 43 minutes, the Reds managed to fire plenty of shots along the way.
Indeed, they made more linebreaks (8) than the Crusaders (5), with locks Josh Canham and Ryan Smith combining well, but the inability to recycle position because of a pushed pass hurt them.
“We were just too loose with the ball in hand,” McDermott added.
“Plenty of times we were in a good position but then we’d chance our hand with a 50-50 offload and we’d find ourselves right back down our end.”
All Blacks duo Will Jordan and Sevu Reece were the chief destroyers for the Crusaders, with the outside backs each crossing for a first-half double.
Along the way Reece moved up into outright third on the all-time Super Rugby tryscoring list on 61. He’s now just four tries short of the competition’s greatest tryscorer, TJ Perenara.
Naturally, Crusaders coach Rob Penney, who endured a horror first year back with the kings of Super Rugby, was delighted with their response after having a bye-round to stew over their round two loss to the Chiefs.
“I think we’re all pretty content with it,” he said.
“Coming off the bye, it’s sometimes difficult to get your rhythm back, but the boys settled in and I’m proud of the effort and energy they put in, and they got the rewards against a really good Reds side.”
The Reds, who will welcome back Test centre Hunter Paisami and Tom Lynagh next week, now have just a few sessions to turn it around in time for Saturday evening’s home match against the Waratahs.
Asked what was needed to get back to winning ways, McDermott said the Reds had been too loose over the opening month of the competition and needed to address their “ball security” immediately.
“We can’t be conceding the amount of turnovers we’re conceding and expect a different result,” he said.
“The past three games we’ve been a little bit too loose with the ball-in-hand and we’ve got to make sure we tidy that up because the Waratahs are three from three and they’re playing some good footy.”
Christian Lio-Willie charges over out wide for the Crusaders. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
As well as the Reds’ locks in the loose, Alex Hodgman made a bright cameo with the one-Test Wallaby and former All Blacks prop making a series of eye-catching runs.
The Reds’ all-Wallabies back-row also had their moments, but the trio could never really influence the outcome of the match after the amount of ball the visitors turned over.
Filipo Daugunu and Lachie Anderson also had some nice touches and were strong over the ball.
But once again Heremaia Murray had a frustrating afternoon, with Jock Campbell’s injury replacement struggling in the first half, while the Reds’ set-piece struggled to contain the Crusaders.
After Cullen Grace and Reece scored inside the opening 20 minutes, the Reds hit back through Daugunu in the 23rd minute.
But Reece’s second two minutes later and Jordan’s quick fire double saw the home side race out to a 29-7 lead after 36 minutes.
A lovely offload from Liam Wright saw Wilson cross over under the sticks in the 38rd minute and the Reds threatened in the seconds before half-time too.
Needing to be the first to strike in the second half the Reds got off to the worst possible start as the hard-running Christian Lio-Willie scored out wide.
More pain looked likely, but the Crusaders bombed a couple of opportunities to keep it interesting.
Anderson got some reward in the 54th minute, but that was their last points of the afternoon despite a few probing raids.
More frustration was around the corner for the Crusaders as David Havili dropped the ball just short of the line in a try-saver from Harry McLaughlin-Phillips.
The Reds’ underwhelming performance was then summed up by a set play that broke down centre field, allowing Levi Aumua to run 40 metres and score.
Reds coach Les Kiss said his side needed to strike the right balance between playing and overplaying their hand.
“We know when it works, it works well,” Kiss said. “But we probably didn’t have the patience in our game to build pressure.
“I want the boys to be skillful but you’ve also got to be pragmatic. We were a little bit loose, for sure.”
Kiss added: “I thought at times we were stoic and held on. But, I guess, Will Jordan a bit of speed catching a few guys by surprise. He just makes those things happen. Sevu tried his best. They found the space when they needed to.
“I think we’ve just got to look at ourselves and be really hard on how we go about building that confidence in playing footy, but be pragmatic, physical and earn the right to play those balls to the edges and through the line.”
