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Crusaders player ratings vs Blues | 2025 Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals
By Ned Lester
The Crusaders may not have landed the first blow, nor the second, but they persevered and landed the knockout in the 86th minute to end what was an exhilarating semi-final in Christchurch.
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The win sees the club’s historic home playoff record extend to 31 games, and advances them to their 18th Super Rugby final.
Here’s how they rated.
1. George Bower – 6/10
Bower has a decision to make this year, given he will be more than three years removed from his last All Blacks cap, making him eligible for a switch of national allegiance.
Ofa Tu’ungafasi is injured, and Bower was the next man up in 2024 when injury struck. There are several young prospects who may be preferred in 2025, and Bower’s performance on Friday night has kept his All Blacks selection chances murky.
While Bower had some moments of ascendancy in the scrums, his body position in the mauls was lax and saw him get shoved back by a more anticipatory Blues pack. When he was low and ready to drive, his power was evident, but too often was he slow to drop, and his side was worse off for it.
2. Codie Taylor – 7.5
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The All Black was hungry defensively, chasing hard and keeping the Blues honest. Handling was an issue, with two balls dropped cold on the night.
The lineout faultered once early, but things got back on track, and the set piece proved to be a reliable platform for the hosts for the bulk of the 86 minutes.
3. Fletcher Newell – 8.5
An 86-minute performance from the prop. The Crusaders’ scrum gained ascendancy as the game progressed, and Newell was on hand to lend his weight to some his his side’s best leg drive carries.
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15 tackles were an impressive tally for the All Black, who backed up an influential showing in last weekend’s qualifying final against the Reds with another industrious effort.
With the form he’s in scrummaging and his work-rate around the park, Newell has a good chance to push his way back into Scott Robertson’s matchday 23.
4. Scott Barrett – 8.5
The All Blacks skipper’s performance wasn’t without fault, but it was a classic workhorse showing. After an early lineout was stolen, the Crusaders managed to click and stay a step ahead of what was a destructive defensive lineout from the Blues a week ago.
Barrett was a bit of a mixed bag at maul time, getting pinged for collapsing but also showing immense strength when driving and wading through. Overall, a valiant effort, with 19 tackles and eight carries.
5. Antonio Shalfoon – 7.5
Showed his strength when wrestling defensively, contributing 14 tackles on the night with two misses.
Shalfoon was not as explosive off the ground as his opponents in the lineouts, but was robust around the park and a very solid contributor in a hard-fought win.
6. Ethan Blackadder – 8.5
Ethan Blackadder is an absolute animal when it comes to work rate, sometimes at the expense of accuracy or effectiveness. A mind-boggling 31 tackles on the night deserves more than a rating of eight and a half, but he is just missing a little edge when it comes to physicality.
When he gets low and drives forward, he clears rucks as well as anyone, but his body position can be awkward and ineffective.
Still, no one plays as hard as the flanker, and even when he missed a tackle when shooting out of the line, he kept the Blues on their toes and ran himself into the ground.
7. Tom Christie – 9
The tackle machine has had his place in the matchday 23 questioned over the past two seasons, and fell out of favour as Christian Lio-Willie established himself as the club’s premier No. 8, pushing Cullen Grace to the blindside and Ethan Blackadder to the seven jersey.
Christie has taken his opportunities in 2025 with open arms, and he produced one of his very best showings in a Crusaders jersey on Friday night.
While the attacking side of the ball has been a struggle to begin Christie’s Super Rugby career, he’s shown real growth this year and capitalised on that in the semi-final. With his side down 14 points early and knocking on the Blues’ line, he got his hands on the ball at the back of the ruck and shaped to go right, only to dart blindside and score his side’s opening try of the game.
His leg drive and body position in the breakdown made him both effective and dangerous.
8. Christian Lio-Willie – 8
Lio-Willie was superb off the restarts and contributed a game-high 46 carry metres from his 10 efforts.
He powered through 17 tackles, a handful of which were both powerful and clutch in the dying minutes as the Blues battered away at the Crusaders’ line.
The industrious No. 8 would have scored higher if it weren’t for a couple of penalties early in the second 40.
9. Noah Hotham – 5
Hotham had a woeful first half, with his lowlights including a dropped ball, a kick out on the full and a forced offload.
The halfback looked unsettled and overeager from the outset, but settled into his work in the second 40 and really found his groove on defence, making double-digit tackles. A mixed bag off the boot in a 78-minute effort.
10. Rivez Reihana – 7
A mixed bag off the boot, in a game that demanded something closer to perfection, given the man in the opposing 10 jersey.
Some great moments with the ball in hand, exploiting half-gaps and dishing out some nice passes. Crucially, Reihana made his conversions.
11. Sevu Reece – 7
The All Black had limited opportunities on Friday night, but contributed some big defence, and made the most of his few touches.
12. David Havili – 9
The captain did a great job of feeling the pulse of the game and compounding pressure on the Blues.
Around the park, Havili’s distribution was the ignition for some of his side’s best attacking moments, and his kicking game was the cherry on top of a great performance. 11 tackles on the night.
13. Braydon Ennor – 6
Ennor chased hard and held his space well, without contributing much more to the game. A yellow card in the 11th minute saw his side undermanned for Rieko Ioane’s try.
14. Chay Fihaki – 8
Fihaki has to be considered if not the best defensive winger in New Zealand, then close to it. His chase work was strong on Friday night, and his anticipation was largely on point, although he was caught out on a couple of occasions.
The 24-year-old initiated a good counter-ruck to win the ball back when Caleb Clarke got the step on him from the cross-field kick, sending an early message to the Blues that sending the ball wide would need to be a considered choice.
When he had the chance to kick, his execution was excellent, and his few moments in the line saw him make good decisions.
15. Will Jordan – 9
The superstar fullback was everything the Crusaders needed of him on Friday night. A handful of tough takes on contestable kicks diffused Beauden Barrett’s game management well, his handling in the face of linespeed pressure was elite, and he kept his side rolling when inheriting the captaincy late in the game. A game-high 14 carries were registered.
Jordan’s footwork was superb to score his first try of the game, and he popped up amongst the forwards, opportunistically scoring his second by sneaking the ball under the defence. A difference maker against stoic defence.
Substitutes
16. George Bell – 7
Came on and threw a wayward lineout straight off the bat. Showed his explosiveness with his runs at the line. Gave away a crucial penalty late. He was big in the late defensive passages.
17. Kershawl Sykes-Martin – 6
Penalised in the scrum soon after coming on, losing his side field position when they needed it most.
18. Seb Calder – N/A
Didn’t touch the park in this one.
19. Jamie Hannah – 7
dropped it cold just shy of halftime, showed some agod nticipation on defence.
20. Cullen Grace – 8
Grace added some great physicality to the Crusaders’ pack, making his presence felt in two separate stints on the field.
21. Kyle Preston – N/A
Didn’t see much action after an extended shift from Hotham.
22. James O’Connor – 7
Six tackles in a brief showing off the bench contributed well to the Crusaders’ final stand.
23. Dallas McLeod – 6
McLeod’s defence was quality, keeping Rieko Ioane in check, as was his assignment. On attack, he didn’t contribute much, and a knock-on late in the piece didn’t help his side. McLeod also looked to be the guilty party for the Crusaders’ last offside call.
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Does this author realise these two teams were basically dead even? LOL
In what world is 21-14 basically dead even? The Blues didn’t score a point in the last hour of the match.
Blackadder is not ‘imposing’ GP, carrying or tackling, that’s the problem, particularly at international level. He gets rag-dolled too often. He does get top marks for persistence and energy. Of the Saders loosies, Lio Willie is the one who should get an AB jersey.
HAHA I like how you pose the author of the article - by making a comment to the article directly - as being GP. The picture of it being him fits perfectly with these ridiculously high ratings lol
But the Blues told us they were going to win all week. Hard luck Vern.
Wrong. I think you are mixing him up with Dalton. You are a sore loser . This “rag doll “ talk regarding Ethan is a fictional myth.
Bower, Blackadder, and Willie-Lio have probably played themselves into the All Blacks based on their performances in the playoffs the past 2 weeks.
I don’t think you need to see Blackadder, or think that he can get any better at this age, they will know from last year what Blackadder offers most likely with that setup at the moment was already there.
Much more important game for the likes of CWL and he went missing for me at the end and then nearly lost the game with a brain explosion diving on the ball.
When u have Wallace and Ardie will be hard to break into team for Lio-Willie, Blackadder if he can stay fit always in the mix
I was at this game, so pleased the Crusaders beat the Blues. Agree/disagree with someof the comments. Players in any team good team compliment each other. I have so much time for Ethan Blackadder , heis an imposing force on defense andwith the ball. Tom Christie, a tackling machine, never stops, but he has developed big time as a ball carrier. Rivez Reihana is way better than the author says.Great goals , runs everything. Will Jordan is playing the total game, 2 tries. Scott Barrett must have silenced his critics.
Were you ACTUALLY THERE GP????!!!!