Squeaky bum moment for stumbling Crusaders | Canterbury Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Canterbury

The Crusaders and Robbie Deans have hit what another successful footie coach, Alex Ferguson, famously calls "squeaky bum time."

The Super 14 champions are used to being in a corner ? and with the Bulls sensing history in the making for them at Loftus Versfeld, that's certainly where they are.

It's the Crusaders' ninth Super semi ? and sixth in a row. But unlike all their previous play-off appearances, instead of peaking at the right time they are going in in a slump.

It's the first time they've lost their last two round-robin matches before a semis appearance. On five occasions they've gone in on the back of two wins, and three times with a win and a loss.

So it's no wonder there's a tangible sense of gloom among Crusaders fans this week. That proud record of never losing a semi is very much in the balance.

The intensity which you expect from the Crusaders at this stage of the season was simply not there until the last quarter hour against the Chiefs.

And worryingly, neither Richie McCaw nor Dan Carter seem to be back to their blockbusting best after their conditioning lay-off.

McCaw and Deans put a bold face on Friday night's defeat. In fact you could almost accuse them of being in denial during the post-mortems.

The skipper said the team was "pretty excited" before the Chiefs match with a home semi at stake, and the intensity had been a step up from Canberra.

"What's happened till now is history ? it means nothing," he said. "It's a one-off next week. At the start of the season we always thought you just want to give yourself a shot.

"We've got a bit to work on but we'll do that."

And Deans expected no problem getting the players up for the semi.

"That won't be hard at all," he said. "The guys will be chomping at the bit.

"This is what the whole year's about, and there's one week ahead of us with a great opportunity at the end, and that's an opportunity we've got that many don't have. So there'll be no difficulty getting the guys excited about it."

The Crusaders will certainly have learned from letting Sione Lauaki and Kristian Ormsby run at them and will be better prepared for the Bulls' big men.

"That's perhaps a mistake we made, we tried to wrestle with him (Lauaki) whereas perhaps the old boot laces were the place to go," said McCaw.

It's hard to conceive a worse draw for the semis than getting the Bulls at altitude in Pretoria on a high after their sensational 13-try win over the Reds.

You write the Crusaders off at your peril, but it is going to take a monumental improvement for the Crusaders to win twice, and probably in South Africa both times, to hang on to the trophy.