Crusaders unsure if Joe Moody will play for them again this season
Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson is unsure whether veteran prop Joe Moody will feature at all during the remainder of the Super Rugby Pacific campaign.
Moody was an injury casualty in last week’s 27-23 defeat at the hands of the Blues in Christchurch, departing the field near the end of the first half with a knee injury.
Speaking to media on Thursday, Robertson was reluctant to give a definitive timeline around when Moody might return to action as awaits scans to determine the severity of the injury.
“Unsure… It doesn’t look good,” Robertson said when asked whether Moody will play for the Crusaders again this year.
“Joe’s got a decent injury, so he’s going to get his knee scanned, trying to make sure we’ve got the right scans so that we’ve got a full report on it, but he definitely won’t be with us in Australia, and potentially longer. That’s all I can give for now.”
News of Moody’s injury is a blow not only for the Crusaders, who highly value the 33-year-old loosehead prop’s seniority and experience, but potentially also for the All Blacks.
While it’s yet to be determined just how long the 57-test international will be sidelined for, the uncertainty about his availability for the Crusaders casts a shadow of doubt over whether he will be fit to play for the All Blacks against Ireland in July.
All Blacks boss Ian Foster is already contending with the long-term shoulder injury to Chiefs midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown, while a raft of other prospective players have been sidelined in recent weeks.
That list of players includes Brodie Retallick (broken thumb), Dane Coles (extended leave), Shannon Frizell (knee), Brad Weber (shoulder), Akira Ioane (foot), Finlay Christie (concussion), Alex Hodgman (concussion) and Josh Ioane (ribs).
In Moody’s absence, the Crusaders have called in former Chiefs prop Ryan Coxon as an injury replacement, and he joins the squad as one of four loosehead prop options alongside George Bower, Finlay Brewis and Tamaiti Williams.
More positively, Robertson will welcome back All Blacks midfielder Jack Goodhue from the ruptured ACL injury he sustained while playing for the Crusaders in Super Rugby Aotearoa last April.
It’s been more than a year since Goodhue last took to the field, and Robertson is eager to see his star man back in action this weekend after naming the 26-year-old to start at second-five against the Melbourne Rebels at AAMI Park on Sunday.
“Jacky G’s an important part of our group over the years, on and off the field,” Robertson said.
“He’s a man of big heart, big engine, and it’s timely. He brings a bit of energy back into the group. We know he’s a great player, but also a great man, so we’re all really pleased for him.
“The knee injury that he had was a big one You don’t get many bigger in regards to a contact sport, so we’re really pleased for him and his efforts.”
Goodhue isn’t the only injury returnee for the Crusaders, as experienced lock Sam Whitelock has shaken off a broken finger to return to the starting lineup for the first time since their loss to the Chiefs in Christchurch last month.
“Sam’s a general commander, he’s got his hand across everything and been around, seen it all, played in the biggest matches, and it’s timely for us,” Robertson said of Whitelock’s return.
“He’s obviously into being our vice-captain and he does a lot of work on and off the field for us, so his presence is important for us.”
Whitelock takes the place of the suspended Scott Barrett, who is serving a four-week ban for his high tackle against Hodgman during last week’s defeat to the Blues.
That suspension means Barrett will miss the Crusaders’ entire tour of Australia, where they will face the Rebels, Waratahs, Force and Brumbies in consecutive weeks.
Robertson described Barrett’s indiscretion as “out-of-character” and said the Crusaders captain will use his time away from the squad to improve his “mental game” and tackling technique.
“He’s genuinely disappointed in himself. Pretty hard on himself, Scott, and he’s taken a step back and put a big process in place for himself to get better, just to probably help himself in his mental game,” Robertson said.
“It’s pretty out-of-character. He’s been great for a couple of years now, but, at that moment, it could have been better. He’s got a few more weeks to work on it technically, which is part of the [four]-week ban, and then also just on the mental side of his game.”
Elsewhere, flanker Sione Havili will link up with the squad following this week’s match after having missed the entire season thus far through injury.
“He won’t be travelling with us this Friday, but he’ll come and join the tour. We’ve got some great loose forwards and a lot of depth,”Robertson said.
“Sione’s pretty much back to full fitness and available to get picked, so he’ll get an opportunity this tour.”
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
26 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
26 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
26 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.
26 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
26 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments