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Crusaders coach’s verdict on Leigh Halfpenny’s possible switch from fullback
Don’t expect to see legendary Wales fullback Leigh Halfpenny running around with the Crusaders’ iconic No. 10 jersey on his back in Super Rugby Pacific next season.
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The former British and Irish Lion has penned a one-year deal with the serial Super Rugby champions, but there are still questions that remain unanswered about Halfpenny’s place in the squad.
As an experienced campaigner with nothing left to prove, Halfpenny has embarked on a new challenge down south – but it’s hard to see the Welshman starting at fullback.
All Black Will Jordan is expected to hold down the fort as the Crusaders’ first-choice fullback as they usher in a new dawn, but there could still be room for Halfpenny in the starting side.
“Fullback is where I play, where I enjoy playing. But wherever I get the opportunity to put the jersey on, I’m happy” Halfpenny told reporters after signing with the club.
“To play 10 and challenge myself there would be exciting as well, and I certainly would be welcome to that opportunity if it presented itself.”
It’s a positional move that would capture the intrigue of rugby fans around the world. Halfpenny has always been a fullback, so it’d be interesting to see the Test centurion mix things up in 2024.
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But it doesn’t look like it’ll happen. Halfpenny is unlikely to follow in the footsteps of rugby giants Andrew Mehrtens, Dan Carter and Richie Mo’unga as the leading playmaker for the Crusaders.
It’s not why coach Rob Penney “picked him.”
“I’ve never seen him do that, that’s not why we’ve picked him,” Penney said, as reported by Newshub. “We’ve got really capable inside back cover.
“We wouldn’t envisage him having to play there. He’s come here with a specific job in mind around a bit of extra maturity and cover in the backfield, and supporting the growth and development of some of those younger players.
“He can play more than one position but we’re really looking at him as a 15.
“I’m very excited about the growth of Taha and Rivez and then Ferg [Fergus Burke] is coming on the scene a bit later on.”
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Former All Blacks playmaker Richie Mo’unga has possibly played his final game for the Crusaders after signing a lucrative deal in Japan with Toshiba Brave Lupus.
Mo’unga, who started at flyhalf for New Zealand in last month’s Rugby World Cup final, has been integral to the Crusaders’ dynastic run of success under former coach Scott Robertson.
But a new dawn awaits. With new boss Rob Penney at the helm, the Crusaders are looking to continue their unparalleled success without the likes of Mo’unga.
“You can look at, I guess, the last 15 or so years, there’s a ‘before Richie’, there’s now going to be an ‘after Richie,'” Penney explained. “We hope the ‘after Richie’ is consistent with the ‘during Richie.’
“Our job is to try to mitigate the loss, promote the next wave and make sure the environment is such that people feel as though they’re not burdened with the role they’re provided with, and that people around them understand their role in supporting the pivotal position that it is.
“If we can do those things, the team will be successful on the back of it. The way the Crusaders operate historically, and I don’t see that changing, it’s a heavily player-led environment.
“Those mature players that have been around and had success, they’ll continue to lead and provide support for whoever’s wearing the 10 jersey.”
Comments on RugbyPass
If he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
81 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
2 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
5 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to commentsSo if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
81 Go to comments