It takes more than a state emergency to hold coach Scott Robertson and his rampant Crusaders back as they demonstrated against the Highlanders in their sodden Super Rugby quarter-final on Saturday night.
With the Canterbury region battling widespread flooding, the edict from Scott Robertson to his men pre-match was clear and concise.
"When we woke up to a civil emergency we knew it wasn't going to be free flowing, we just had to get the job done," Robertson said post-match.
"The forwards loved that chat when we met this afternoon."
The adverse weather conditions got to the point where doubt began to arise about their opponents' chances of even being able to make it to Christchurch, with multiple flight cancellations causing a 24-hour delay in the Highlanders' arrival.
"We just pretty much shut that process out," Robertson said of the situation.
"We just had to hope there was going to be a game on and they deserved to play in it."
The Crusader's forward pack responded dutifully to their coach's pleas, treating the modest but vocal crowd which braved the blizzard to a powerful and purposeful performance in what was an emphatic response to their lone loss of the season the previous week.
At one stage they bulldozed a maul from a lineout drive 10-metres out across the line, and despite the reversal of the referee's original decision to award a try, you got the sense the writing was on the wall for the visitors.
"They've fronted up all year but I think our ability at line-out time and scrumtime was pretty impressive.
"The defensive line-out was probably the best it's been all year….to take those critical throws off them and also to get those mauls going put a hell of a lot of pressure on them to get some flow.
A stinging, disciplined defensive effort complemented their direct approach to attack, with Robertson reserving special praise for the heart shown not only across the park, but in the stands.
"It was extremely gutsy, and I think it was gutsy to our crowd too for turning up.
"To get 10,000-odd people, maybe more, make it 12 to round it up, it shows they really care and we're just really looking forward to getting a stadium that reflects our passion as a people," Robertson said, referencing the impending plans for a new regional ground.
Although he admitted he wouldn't be braving the early hours of Sunday morning to see the Chiefs ultimately edge the Stormers to set-up a semi-final showdown against his troops, Robertson remained adamant the same intensity would be required if they're to advance to their 12th Super Rugby final.
"The biggest thing for us is to have the same intensity and focus we had this week off the back of a loss.
"We were extremely disappointed last week, and now's our chance to go again."
The Crusaders will return to AMI Park to host the Chiefs in the first Super Rugby semi-final next Saturday at 7:35pm.
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