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Tahs tactics were spot on

THE Super 14 final was a great game. It was tough, compelling and non-stop. One of the many unpredictable breakouts, after a phase of play that lasted several gut-wrenching minutes, led to Lachie Turner scoring a kick-and-chase try after the Waratahs had almost given a try away at their end of the field.

Not even Tah Man can paper over the cracks

AS THE Waratahs have brutally discovered, Sydney loves a winner.

Ewen denies rift after Waugh's 'snub'

THE pain of losing a second Super 14 final to the Crusaders in four years has been aggravated by Waratahs captain Phil Waugh and coach Ewen McKenzie being forced to fend off reports of a rift between the pair.

McKenzie and Waugh deny rift

Ewen McKenzie and Phil Waugh dismissed talk of simmering tension between outgoing coach and shattered captain after the NSW Waratahs' 20-12 Super 14 final loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch.

McCaw endorses new Wallabies coach

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw admitted New Zealand rugby's loss was Australia's gain after Robbie Deans masterminded the Crusaders' seventh title in 11 years with a 20-12 Super 14 triumph over the NSW Waratahs last night.

Waugh weary with finishing second best

SHATTERED Waratahs captain Phil Waugh has admitted his side's Super 14 final loss to the Crusaders again proved that the step up from title contender to champion is massive.

Robbie's sharp as they come

A COUPLE of years ago, when Mark Hammett joined the coaching staff at the Crusaders, he was checking his emails one morning. His inbox contained a couple of messages from his boss, Robbie Deans. It wasn't what was in them that surprised Hammett, but when they were sent.

Kooky Luke flies out of left field

Anyone who knows Luke Burgess will tell you of the strange things he gets up to. The search for the Waratahs halfback for a prearranged interview at Sydney Airport before they flew out on Wednesday to Christchurch quickly leads to some interesting and unexpected insight into his idiosyncrasies.

Tahs put heat on ref and hooker

WARATAHS coach Ewen McKenzie has called on South African referee Mark Lawrence to control the lineouts more strictly in tonight's Super 14 final against the Crusaders to avoid a repeat of NSW's unsuccessful 2005 title decider.

We have the spine, now for the meat

DURING my off-season research, I discovered that the Crusaders' home-ground advantage is worth 13 points. Other venues also offer the home team some love, but the advantage falls into the six- to nine-point range. That deficit is just one challenge we need to overcome to hold up the Super 14 trophy tonight.

Key questions for final

Bustling back row sticks in McCaw memory bank

CRUSADERS captain Richie McCaw believes the Waratahs back row is largely responsible for NSW's qualification for their second Super final in five years.

Tahs on lineout crusade

Ewen McKenzie has turned the torch on the South African referee ahead of Super 14 final.

Carter says wayward Beale will feel the heat in Christchurch cauldron

CRUSADERS five-eighth Dan Carter has begun the mind games in an attempt to rattle Kurtley Beale before the Super 14 final tomorrow, highlighting the enormity of the occasion as a potential cause of his downfall.

Front row seats to storming of the castle

THEY are the buried treasure of the game, the unseen batterers and rammers of rugby union, rarely seen, generally unheard big men whose grim presence and unfriendly muscle is all-important in winning World Cups.

Paulo solitary change for Crusaders

Robbie Deans has predictably made just one change to the Crusaders starting line-up for Saturday night's Super 14 rugby final against the Waratahs in Christchurch.

Polota-Nau back for the Tahs

Hooker returns from injury in the only change to the Waratahs team for the Super 14 final.

NSW pack can lift for final

NSW's canny forwards know they can get a big lift in the battle to win enough ball to beat the Crusaders in the Super 14 final on Saturday night.

Influential barrackers are lining up behind McKenzie - for the Crusaders job

IF WARATAHS coach Ewen McKenzie applies for the Crusaders' coaching job set to become vacant after the Super 14 final on Saturday, he will have full backing of their influential supporters' club.

We will beat the Crusaders - Freier

WHILE Adam Freier talked tough and argued the Waratahs had the gameplan to win the Super 14 final yesterday, his hooking partner, Tatafu Polota-Nau, was giving all the right signs to indicate the Crusaders will confront a full-strength opposition on Saturday night.

New entry in world's most dangerous jobs: NSW coach

THE wait for the announcement of the 2009 Waratahs coach has prompted at least one leading candidate to have second thoughts, while advisers are even calling on the NSW Rugby Union to reconsider the whole process.

Waratahs play toss the boss

WARATAHS players who are chasing Wallabies spots as well as an elusive Super 14 title are adamant they won't be distracted by the person sitting in the opposition coaching box on Saturday night.

McKenzie's defining hour

WARATAHS coach Ewen McKenzie has branded the Super 14 final against six-time champions the Crusaders as the "ultimate challenge", for which he has yearned since starting as coach five years ago.

Last crusade the ultimate challenge

It's the ultimate Super 14 final: NSW's departing coach Ewen McKenzie trying to outwit the Crusaders' incoming Wallabies coach Robbie Deans to win world rugby's toughest provincial tournament.

Waratahs to kick on with Beale

NSW coach Ewen McKenzie will persevere with Kurtley Beale as goalkicker despite his unreliable right boot.