Crusaders 1/50 | Draw 33/1 | Force 12/1
The Crusaders will be looking to bounce back from their ten-point defeat to tournament pacesetters the Chiefs when they square off with a hit-and-miss Force side this Saturday.
The hosts are only three points adrift of the second-placed Brumbies and will be keen to close the ground on their Australian rivals and move into the home play-off spots, while the Force are two-points off the final quarter-final berth.
While the Crusaders did give a good account of themselves against the Chiefs, they will be bitterly disappointed with how the final ten minutes of the fixture played out as they struggled defensively allowing their title rivals back into the game. Lessons will have been learnt from that ten-point defeat, however, and the ‘Saders will be looking to make a big statement this coming weekend which will be worrying for Force fans.
The Force also head into Saturday’s fixture having suffered a derby loss as they went down 31-17 to the Reds. Despite opening the scoring, the Force were never really in the game with the Queenslanders keeping them at arm’s length for the entirety of the contest.
The Crusaders will be hurting after last weekend’s defeat and I can see them inflicting a bit of pain on the Force, who will no doubt struggle against the Crusaders heavy duty forward pack and world class backs.
