Crusade On! Celebrating 25 years of the Crusaders: New book documents rugby greats

Published date11 March 2021
*********

Corne Fourie crashes over by the posts in the 73rd minute.

The Crusaders' lead is cut to eight points.

For the remaining minutes, Chris Barclay's eyes are glued to the scoreboard at the far end of Ellis Park.

He is frantically trying to calculate the moment when the title will be won, the moment where there simply won't be enough left on the clock to leave the Lions time to score twice.

'I was willing the clock to accelerate, while keeping a wary eye on field position,' Barclay said. 'Fortunately our game management was sound.'

The Crusaders played most of the final moments in the 'safe' area of the field, at the other end of the ground from where their travelling fan was seated, far from the corner adjacent to Barclay where hooker Malcolm Marx had scored to provide the home side with a glimmer of hope, 16 minutes before the end.

'As the digits displayed 78:00 minutes, I decided I could finally breathe easily at altitude,' Barclay said.

The Crusaders' first title since 2008 was moments away, being confirmed when Richie Mo'unga hoofed a penalty to touch, into a sea of red and white jerseys — and ashen faces.

For the Sydney-based Barclay, who had taken the day off a few weeks earlier to organise a visa on the off chance that the Crusaders might be headed to Johannesburg, fulltime was vindication. Nineteen years on from his attendance at Eden Park, this 'away' trip was just as memorable.

Despite the contrasting eras, there were similarities between Auckland and Johannesburg.

'Deep down, did I really believe we'd win either final?' Barclay mused.

'But I went, just in case. More out of hope than expectation.'

A career sportswriter, Barclay was in a position, either working at the game professionally, or attending in a personal capacity, to witness all eight finals that the Crusaders played away from Christchurch between 1996 and 2019.

He missed just one of the 14 finals the Crusaders made in that period.

'I don't feel too guilty about being in Reykjavík [in 2006, when the Crusaders played the Hurricanes] either, because hardly anyone saw that final,' Barclay joked.

'And let's face it, that fog just kept the [winning] margin down!'

Statistically, playing at home counts for a lot in Super Rugby finals, with the away side winning just six of the combined competition's 24 deciders.

'The Brumbies, Waratahs, Hurricanes, Lions and Jaguares were rank outsiders [for their finals in Christchurch] barring an early red card, a refereeing atrocity or a gastro outbreak,' Barclay joked.

For all of the miles he has covered on the rugby trail, some of Barclay's fondest memories of the dynasty are still associated with Lancaster Park, most notably from the 1998 semi-final against the Sharks where two tries by Norm Berryman set the Crusaders on their way, before a Daryl

Lilley score stalled off the South African's gallant comeback.

Like many of the Crusaders' longest-serving faithful, Barclay's association with Lancaster Park pre-dated Super Rugby, although he acknowledged his 'debut' was inauspicious.

'In 1977, I was railroaded into making a tactical error,' he explained.

'As an eight-year-old, with strong Scottish women in the household out-voting my grandfather, I turned off Ferry Road, down Stevens Street for the first time, wearing the red — of Wales!

'Plus, a Pontypool rosette. The trousers were navy blue, but there must have been some green and white component in the uniform as well.'

For the one and only time in his life, the young Barclay left Christchurch's former sporting 'citadel' satisfied after a Canterbury defeat, made all the more galling for most of the 42,000-strong crowd due to the fact it was inflicted by a 78th-minute penalty.

This saw the British & Irish Lions home 14–13, ending a run of five straight Canterbury wins against international touring teams.

The province would go on to win the National Provincial Championship for the first time later that year.

'I remember [Lions captain] Terry Cobner smiling at me before he headed to the after-match function,' Barclay recalled.

'Newport wing Gareth Evans [who scored a try for the Lions in the game] was my favourite...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT