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Confirmed: Crusaders boosted by return of All Blacks star ahead of Super Rugby Aotearoa
The Crusaders have confirmed a massive boost for the hastily altered 2020 campaign with veteran test lock Sam Whitelock returning to the squad.
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Coach Scott Robertson confirmed that Whitelock’s Japan contract ended in May anyway so the great All Black lock and former captain would be available when Super Rugby Aotearoa kicks off in a month’s time.
Experience will be a key ingredient as teams play in empty stadiums and in a series of brutal all-New Zealand clashes because of the virus crisis.
And Whitelock’s presence will only increase the Crusaders’ – who have won three consecutive titles – status as hot favourites to prevail once again.
The 2019 captain Whitelock was going to miss this Super Rugby season after taking up a contract with the Panasonic Wild Knights.
“Sam’s available to play – it’s great to have him back,” said Robertson, who had already named another test lock Scott Barrett as his new captain.
Whitelock told Sky Sport last month he was “pretty gutted’ the Japan league was cancelled and would start talking to the Crusaders and Canterbury about joining them again.
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Robertson says the champion Crusaders will create their own atmosphere on the field to deal with the empty stadiums.
And the new-age Crusaders coach has described the lockdown period as a “time for reflection for the whole of humanity really – not just our sector”.
Robertson told Newstalk ZB that the amount of experience within the ranks of the champions put them in a good position to deal with the empty stadiums.
While there will be no hard and fast rules around getting the flu vaccination, New Zealand's Super Rugby players will face tougher Covid-19 bubble restrictions than the general population.https://t.co/hhVrA2yMrS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 12, 2020
“It’s a bit like training isn’t it?,” he said.
“It’s like anything. If you have a plan you can deal with it, deal with the uniqueness.
“You have to create your own atmosphere on the field, create that intensity, we’ve got a lot of experienced guys who can.
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“There are different ways we can add this into our first few weeks. We’ll ask the players what they need.”
Robertson said he was very aware of not overloading players during the social-distancing period which forced them to communicate online.
But the lockdown was also a time to reflect on how the Crusaders operated, and he hinted that the coaches may have decided to ease up slightly.
“Mondays for us are massive days, a lot of information, and we need to make sure the players get their learnings but stay mentally refreshed,” he said.
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“We’ve looked at how to get the best out of our group and ourselves, how does each individual meeting look like, how can we deliver it better, teach the guys better.
“We looked at detailed ways we can play the game (and) most importantly look at when we are at our best as Crusaders, and do that as much as we possibly can.
“We have a very disciplined and self reliant group.”
The Crusaders used Zoom meetings, podcasts and videos to stay connected. Robertson “picked off” a player every day or so for special treatment, and to ensure they were going well.
“(But) not overkill – we didn’t know how long it would be. It’s a tricky one – you can get Zoom hangovers – I don’t know if there is such a thing,” he said.
Robertson, beaten by Ian Foster for the All Blacks job, confirmed he would love to coach in the proposed All Blacks trial.
But the possible North-South match – he is too young to remember the original games – put him in an eligibility/loyalty quandary.
“I was brought up at Mt Maunganui, my first season was with Bay of Plenty at 19,” he said.
“That puts me up in the north which makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
37 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments