Crusaders Achievements

Achievements

Team 1996-2010
  • The Crusaders have won the Super 12 five times (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005) as well as the first Super 14 (2006) and last season's Super 14 (2008).
  • The Crusaders won their first three finals (1998 Auckland, 1999 Dunedin & 2000 Canberra) away from home. The Bulls (2007) are the only other side to have won a Super rugby final playing away from home. The Crusaders boast the highest winning percentage away from home of any side in Super rugby history.
  • In 2002, the Crusaders won all 13 matches the team played in the competition, becoming the first side to make a clean sweep of the Super rugby season. No other side has achieved this feat in the time since.
  • As well as winning the title on seven occasions, the Crusaders also made the final in 2003 and 2004. The franchise’s nine appearances in the final is easily a record, being three finals more than the next best performed side, the Brumbies, have achieved.
  • The Crusaders have also won nine of the 10 semi-finals in which they have featured.
  • Between February 2004 and May 2007, the Crusaders won 26 consecutive home matches. This was easily a competition record, eclipsing the previous record of 20 games, established by Graham Henry’s Auckland Blues between 1996 and 1998.
  • The 541 points scored by the Crusaders in the 2005 Super 12 is the most achieved by any side in a Super rugby season.
  • The 71 tries scored by the Crusaders in 2005 was also a season record for any team. The new record was achieved in a season that was the fourth leanest, in terms of the number of tries that were scored, among the 10 years of the Super 12 decade.
  • A number of competition records were smashed during the Crusaders’ 96-19 win over the NSW Waratahs at Jade in 2002: most points by one side, most tries (14), most conversions (13) and the then biggest winning margin (77). Incredibly all of this was achieved in a contest that was supposedly between the sides ranked one and two on the points table for that season.
  • In 2007 the Crusaders became the first (and so far only) side to register 100 competition wins.
  • In 2009 the Crusaders made the semi-finals (against the Blues in Pretoria) despite winning only one game out of their first five matches of the season.
  • In 2010 the Crusaders played the Bulls in the semi-finals in South Africa once again, though this time the match was played in Soweto.
Individual 1996-2010
  • Andrew Mehrtens was widely acknowledged as the most dominant player of his era. Mehrtens’ career statistics back up that claim, with the Crusaders first-five-eighths finishing his time in New Zealand as the competition’s leading point-scorer with 990 Super rugby points.
  • Dan Carter’s haul of 221 points in the inaugural Super 14 represented a new record by an individual in a Super rugby season, beating the 206 achieved by Andrew Mehrtens in 1998.
  • Rico Gear’s 15 tries during the 2005 Crusade tied ACT Brumbies’ winger Joe Roff for the most scored by one player during a Super rugby season.
  • The Crusaders’ success last season was Robbie Deans’s fifth title as the team’s head coach.
  • Reuben Thorne has appeared in nine finals, seven of which ended with him on the winning side. Thorne, who is now the Crusaders’ longest serving player, only made his Super rugby debut in the last game of the 1997 competition - so he has effectively only been involved for one match more than 10 seasons of Super rugby, yet he has been to the final nine times. Prior to the start of 2007, Thorne had missed just five matches for the Crusaders since his debut in 1997, playing 73 games consecutively between 2001 and 2006.
  • Prior to missing the 2006 final, Caleb Ralph featured in a phenomenal 103 consecutive matches for the Crusaders after joining the franchise from the Blues at the start of 1999.
  • In 2010 Richie McCaw reached the 100-cap milestone for the Crusaders.
  • Five players have now featured in over 100 matches for the Crusaders – flanker Reuben Thorne (129), wing Caleb Ralph (135 Super rugby caps, 126 for the Crusaders), halfback Justin Marshall (105) and prop Greg Somerville (115). Fullback Leon MacDonald has played 127 Super rugby matches (122 for the Crusaders). Richie McCaw achieved his milestone against the Stormers in Cape Town.
Competition Playing Record 1996-2010
  • Played: 196, Won 131, Lost 62, Drawn 6
  • Points Scored: 5,464
  • Points Conceded: 4,154
  • Tries Scored: 617
  • Home: 83 wins from 100 matches (83%)
  • Away: 48 wins from 96 matches (50%)
  • Overall: 131 wins from 196 matches (67%)
Honours Board
  • Champions: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008
  • Finalists: 2003, 2004
  • Semi-finalists: 2007, 2009, 2010 
Log Placings
  • 1996: 12th
  • 1997: 6th
  • 1998: 2nd
  • 1999: 4th
  • 2000: 2nd
  • 2001: 10th
  • 2002: 1st
  • 2003: 2nd
  • 2004: 2nd
  • 2005: 1st
  • 2006: 1st
  • 2007: 3rd
  • 2008: 1st
  • 2009: 4th
  • 2010: 4th
Coaches
  • 1996: Vance Stewart (convenor) & Bryan (Aussie) McLean
  • 1997: Wayne Smith (convenor) & Peter Sloane
  • 1998: Wayne Smith (convenor) & Peter Sloane
  • 1999: Wayne Smith (convenor) & Peter Sloane
  • 2000: Robbie Deans (convenor) & Steve Hansen
  • 2001: Robbie Deans (convenor) & Steve Hansen
  • 2002: Robbie Deans (convenor) & Colin Cooper
  • 2003: Robbie Deans (convenor) & Don Hayes
  • 2004: Robbie Deans (convenor) & Don Hayes
  • 2005: Robbie Deans (convenor), Vern Cotter & Rob Penney
  • 2006: Robbie Deans (convenor), Vern Cotter & Mark Hammett
  • 2007: Robbie Deans (convenor), Mark Hammett & Todd Blackadder
  • 2008: Robbie Deans (convenor), Mark Hammett
  • 2009: Todd Blackadder (head coach), Mark Hammett & Daryl Gibson
  • 2010: Todd Blackadder (head coach), Mark Hammett & Daryl Gibson
Captains
  • 1996: Richard Loe
  • 1997: Todd Blackadder
  • 1998: Todd Blackadder
  • 1999: Todd Blackadder
  • 2000: Todd Blackadder
  • 2001: Todd Blackadder
  • 2002: Reuben Thorne
  • 2003: Reuben Thorne
  • 2004: Reuben Thorne
  • 2005: Richie McCaw
  • 2006: Richie McCaw
  • 2007: Corey Flynn/Richie McCaw
  • 2008: Richie McCaw
  • 2009: Richie McCaw
  • 2010: Richie McCaw
Team Records
  • Most Points in a match: 96, v NSW Waratahs, 2002
  • Most Points in a season: 541, 2005
  • Most Tries in a match: 14, v NSW Waratahs, 2002
  • Most Tries in a season: 70, 2005
  • Biggest winning margin: 77 (96-19) v NSW Waratahs, 2002
Individual Records
  • Most Points in a match: 29, Ben Blair, v Bulls, 2001
  • Most Points in a season: 221, Dan Carter, 2006
  • Most Points in a career: 990, Andrew Mehrtens
  • Most Tries in a match: 4, Caleb Ralph, v NSW Waratahs, 2002
  • Most Tries in a season: 15, Rico Gear, 2005
  • Most Tries in a career: 50, Caleb Ralph
  • Most Conversions in a match: 13, Andrew Mehrtens, v NSW Waratahs, 2002
  • Most Conversions in a season: 38, Dan Carter, 2006
  • Most Conversions in a career: 134, Andrew Mehrtens
  • Most Penalty goals in a match:
    - 6, Andrew Mehrtens, v Stormers, 1998
    - 6, Andrew Mehrtens, v ACT Brumbies, 1999
    - 6, Andrew Mehrtens, v Highlanders, 2000
    - 6, Ben Blair, v Bulls, 2001
    - 6, Andrew Mehrtens, v Highlanders, 2002
    - 6, Andrew Mehrtens, v Blues, 2002
  • Most Penalty goals in a season: 43, Andrew Mehrtens, 1999
  • Most Penalty goals in a career: 202, Andrew Mehrtens
  • Most Dropped goals in a match: 3, Andrew Mehrtens, v Highlanders, 1998
  • Most Dropped goals in a season: 4, Andrew Mehrtens, 1998, 1999, 2002
  • Most Dropped goals in a career: 17, Andrew Mehrtens
  • Most Appearances: 129, Reuben Thorne
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)