Thu 23 Jun 2011 | 11:47
Tom Marshall's big try saving hit on Aaron Cruden

Last weekend the Crusaders beat the Hurricanes in a low scoring, yet eventful game. You saw Andrew Hore questioning the ref earlier in the week, now here is a clip of a brilliant tackle from young Tom Marshall.

Incidentally, I'm pleased to tell you that this is Rugbydump's 2000th post . While some news sites or blogs churn out words at an uncanny rate, I'm pretty happy to have 2000 unique posts on the site that has each one featuring a quality video of some kind with it. It hasn't been easy to get to this point, but we're sticking at it and you can expect big things from RD over the next few months, and indeed years. Also, it's fitting that this one is a big hit.

Which brings us nicely back to what happened in this match, as Marshall absolutely smashed Aaron Cruden just meters from the tryline. Along with tackling Dan Carter becoming outlawed , this was one of the most requested incidents of the weekend.

"It was kind of 50-50 but Cruden was pretty renowned for his dummy-and-go, so I just thought I would go for the shot and it worked out all right," said Marshall.

Marshall, who you might not have heard of yet, admits himself that he's hardly one of the big names at the star-studded Crusaders side. He actually said recently that when it comes to the end of the game and the kids run on, everyone clamours around Sonny Bill Williams and king Carter, so it's nice and easy for him as he just chucks a hoodie on and blends in, and is free to walk around without being bothered.

With big tackles like this, he better enjoy the quiet time while he can.

As for the guy he tackled, Aaron Cruden, well he's been included in the All Blacks training squad for the World Cup, along with Colin Slade and Dan Carter, which has quite controversially meant there is no place for Stephen Donald. Coach Graham Henry said this week that Donald simply wasn't good enough at this stage, but will be considered if there's injuries before, or during the tournament.

This weekend the Crusaders host the Sharks, with the winner heading into the Semi Finals, while the Blues play the Waratahs in the first game. Both should be really good to watch, intense, and with lots of physical stuff going on. More like this one hopefully. So enjoy the hit, and thanks for the support over each one of the 2000 posts on the site.

Time: 01:50

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