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.
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.
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.
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“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.
“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
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments