Willie le Roux won his fullback battle against Israel Dagg in Bloemfontein, writes MARK KEOHANE.
Dagg was in the winning team but Le Roux made the greater individual contribution.
Le Roux made more carries, more linebreaks, beat more defenders and was definitely more involved on attack than Dagg, who played well.
Neither player was defensively active and both fullbacks made just a single tackle in 80 minutes.
Le Roux’s try put the Cheetahs ahead 31-26 with 25 minutes to go, but from a team perspective the Crusaders finished strongly and scored three tries in the last 10 minutes.
Photos: Hagen Hopkins/Sandra Mu/Getty Images