'A lovely sight to see': Penney reacts as tempers flare at Crusaders training

The Crusaders’ tough start to the season clearly has the team feeling the pinch, with tensions boiling over at training on Tuesday. Members of the media were standing on the sidelines, awaiting interviews, when things got heated on the training field.

The two players involved in the fight were prop Kershawl Sykes-Martin and lock Will Tucker, with captain David Havili quick to step in between them. The incident happened during a contact session at the club’s Christchurch base, Rugby Park.

The Crusaders lost to their famed rivals, the Blues, at Eden Park over the weekend, dropping the team to eighth of 11 on the Super Rugby Pacific table with a record of one win and three losses. The week prior, the team looked to have gotten their season back on track with a 43-33 win over the Chiefs in a 2025 final rematch, but clearly, not all questions have been answered. Tuesday’s incident suggests the players are under even more pressure to perform.

Team head coach Rob Penney fronted the media after the dust-up and didn’t shy away from the topic when it was broached, even endorsing it, fostering an edge in the environment while looking to get his squad back into the title-winning form they’re known for.

Penney was asked if there was tension in the camp, and responded enthusiastically.

Sykes-Martin, 26, made his Crusaders debut in 2023, while Tucker, 27, has been something of a journeyman in his Super Rugby career to date, and is in his first season with his hometown team after stints with New York in the MLR, the Highlanders and Hurricanes.

The scuffle is the second of the Super Rugby season to make its way into the media, after the Waratahs’ pre-season boxing match that saw Angus Scott-Young sidelined with stitches and a fractured eye socket and Miles Amatosero suspended for two games.

Crusaders boss Penney said of the fight, “It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last.”