Marshall brushes off claims referees “cost” Chiefs in Super Rugby final

The Crusaders are Super Rugby champions for a seventh straight year, sealing the historic win in an instant classic against the Chiefs.

The Chiefs’ disciplinary issues were on full display throughout, receiving two yellow cards in the early goings but managing to stay in the fight for the majority of the game.

Despite dominating the opening stages, the Crusaders were unable to break away which saw the game go down to the final moments.

The turning point in the game came in the last ten minutes when Sam Cane was sent to the sin bin, giving the Crusaders a golden chance to walk away with the win.

In a game that was full of crucial referring decisions, SENZ’s Justin Marshall noted it wasn’t their fault that the Chiefs lost, and that the decisions can be justified.

“It was pressure, there’s parts of that, that means you’re already under the pump anyway and you succumb to that pressure,” Marshall said on SENZ The Rugby Run.

“Which means that you’re in the fight, yes but your desperation is illegal, I don’t feel it helped but there are many other elements in the game that it was decided on, not the discipline.”

“The Crusaders on finals day are hard enough to get past, let alone depowering yourself, ultimately discipline comes from pressure, and it also comes from accuracy.

“Anton Lienert-Brown was an accuracy, Sam Cane’s was discipline, you’ve got to look at that and the concept of how it sits.”

Referee Ben O’Keefe has been subject to plenty of criticism over this Super Rugby season, something that Marshall didn’t see as necessary.

“I thought Ben O’Keefe refereed the game to the usual high standard and I don’t say that at all with my Crusaders cap on, I always try to look at everything objectively,” Marshall added.

“I think there was probably a couple of decisions that didn’t favourably suit the Chiefs that I concur with but you’re going to get the odd one that doesn’t go you, I didn’t think it was consistent across the game.”

Crusaders’ coach Scott Robertson departs his post after seven-straight Grand Final wins and will now take over the All Blacks job ahead of the 2023 World Cup.