McNicholl punished rubbish Rebels

Johnny McNicoll produced a fine all-round display in the Crusaders’ 85-26 demolition of the Rebels, according to SARugbymag.co.za’s Opta-powered stats.

The Crusaders, as a collective, sunk the Rebels with a superb performance that yielded 13 tries. Centre Ryan Crotty and hooker Codie Taylor each scored a brace, and McNicholl a hat-trick.

The right wing beat four defenders, made one clean break and ran 73m en route to his three-try feat. But he was also good defensively, making two desperate tackles in the Crusaders' half and slipping none.

Overall, the Rebels had 57% possession and made 122 carries to the Crusaders’ 112. However, they were impotent on attack and their defence was non-existent.

The Crusaders made 739m to 588, beat 30 defenders to 11, succeeded with 30 offloads to 11 and made 10 clean breaks to six.

More team and player statistics

Photo: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images

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