VENUE & TIME: Suncorp Stadium Brisbane, Saturday July 9, 21:35 NZT.
HEAD TO HEAD: Played 17 – Reds 5, Crusaders 12
LAST TIME: May 29, 2011 (Brisbane) - Reds 17-16 Crusaders
WALKING WOUNDED: Lock Luke Romano trained with the team on Wednesday after his delayed flight from Cape Town after suffering chicken pox. He has been bracketed with veteran Chris Jack. Halfback Andy Ellis had a worry with his knee and shoulder bruising and was bracketed in the original team named with Kahn Fotuali'i. The Reds have had the rare privilege of fielding their first unchanged team all season.
FORM:
Reds Past Five:
Playoff: Beat Blues 30-13 (h)
Week 18: Beat Chiefs 19-11 (a)
Week 17: Beat Force 24-21 (a)
Week 16: Lost to Brumbies 14-22 (h)
Week 15: Beat Crusaders 17-16 (h)
Crusaders Past Five:
Playoff: Beat Stormers 29-10 (a)
Playoff: Beat Sharks 36-8 (h)
Round 18: Beat Hurricanes 16-9 (h)
Round 17: Beat Blues 23-16 (h)
Round 16: Bye
Round 15: Lost to Reds 16-17 (a)
Not only have the Reds now won their first playoff match in Super Rugby, they will play, and host, their first final. They lost semi-finals after having topped the points tables in 1996 and 1999. The Crusaders became the first side in Super Rugby to defeat an opponent away from home twice in the same season. And in winning a semi-final away, it was the first time that had happened since 2002 and it was the first time since 1999 when a team had won a semi-final in another country. For a team which has achieved so much it is worth remembering the Crusaders are the only side to have won a final overseas – the Brumbies were on the receiving end in 2000. However, on this occasion the Crusaders have a chance to become the first team to have finished third in the regular season to win the title.
WHO'S HOT: Wing Rod Davies can claim to be on fire after becoming the first Red to score a hat-trick of tries in Super Rugby. Quade Cooper was such a dominating force in the semi-final that he proved the game-breaker undoing the Blues three times. Flanker Beau Robinson proved a handful in the loose, but the opposition is a notch or two higher this time around in not only Richie McCaw but Kieran Read and George Whitelock. Dan Carter stepped up in the big-game atmosphere and showed he had not lost his kicking form after a disappointing effort the week before. He goes into the final needing four points to overtake former team-mate Andrew Mehrtens as the leading scorer in Super Rugby finals. He has 54 points. In Cape Town he became the first player to move past 200 points in playoff matches. The other factor in the game will be the Crusaders front five, and the powerful scrummaging unit that has emerged with Wyatt Crockett, Corey Flynn and the Franks brothers, Ben and Owen.
WE THINK: Nerves should not be an issue for either side. The Crusaders have been here before, while the Reds have not shown any sign of nerves at any stage of the season. This is a true final where there are so many fine players in each position on both sides. The closeness of the earlier game between the