Crusaders looking for revenge | Canterbury Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Canterbury

Radiating confidence after their excellent warm-up win over the Reds, the Crusaders play the Brumbies in their Super 12 opener in Canberra tomorrow night well-equipped to exact revenge for last year's loss there in the final.

It was good to start the competition with a hard game, said second-five Aaron Mauger.

"And I think we've got a bit of a point to prove from last year as well," he said.

The Crusaders starting 15 has Dan Carter at fullback and Leon MacDonald, back from Japan this week, on the bench, newcomer Rico Gear on the wing, and the old combo of Justin Marshall and Andrew Mehrtens at 9 and 10.

In the forwards tighthead prop Campbell Johnstone gets his second Super 12 start with Dave Hewett on the bench, and Ross Filipo locks with Chris Jack.

Mauger, pleased to be in his favourite No.12 jersey after playing most of the 2004 Super 12 at centre, said the Crusaders were better prepared after three pre-season matches this time.

"The boys are lot more confident in what we're doing," he said. "There's a lot of authority, there's no confusion in what we're trying to do, our patterns are pretty clear, and the players can just bring what they've got then when their heads are clear."

Although last year's final is the result everyone dwells on, the Crusaders have won two of their last four matches in Canberra and beaten the Brumbies in five of their last seven encounters.

Attitude would be vital, said Mauger.

"It's important for us to try to knock them back early and get on top early and try to do the basics well," he said. "They're a team that punishes teams who turn the ball over to them and that happened last year as well.

"I think we had about three or four turnovers in the first 15 min and they were up four tries. I think they scored every time we turned the ball over. That's probably something we're going to have to work on, ball retention, looking after it and making good decisions on attack."

In Brisbane last week the Crusaders had a game plan and stuck to it, "and the forwards brought a bit of attitude which is the main thing for us. If we do that then the rest of it just seems to come."

The Brumbies would probably miss Matt Giteau because a lot of their game revolved around him, but still had Stephen Larkham, he said.

"He's done it for them even before Giteau came along. He's the guy who controls their back line and the guy coming in at 12 (Gene Fairbanks) looks a solid player as well."

The Brumbies were pretty good at looking after the ball and that's where they tried to create a lot of pressure and score a lot of tries after a lot of phases, said Mauger.

They had some powerful runners in there to base their game around. Even with a new coach they were unlikely to be too much different this year, but the Crusaders knew they might have a few new tricks up their sleeves ? "so we won't be falling asleep."

While he's where he wants to be tomorrow, Mauger said that with so much competition in the backline it was important for the guys who got starts to perform.

He's excited by the potential out wide.

"Caleb (Ralph) is a proven winger and he's been consistent for us for six or seven years now and we know what he's capable of, and it's good to have Rico Gear there as well. He's a really class winger and brings a new dimension. He's pretty solid and he talks a lot and he's a good organiser.

"And it's good to have Vilimoni Delasu there as well -- a bit of that X factor. He's the sort of guy who can split a game open and create a lot of opportunities for the rest of us.