Crusaders vs Hurricanes takes: The confidence of youth, If Dave Rennie wants fitness

The final round of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific round-robin kicked off in front of 25,000 eager Christchurch fans, with the No.1 seed Hurricanes in town looking to end the Crusaders’ unbeaten run at their new home ground.

The Canes had the top spot locked up coming into the final week, and had selected accordingly, while the Crusaders had the chance to climb as high as third or fall as low as sixth heading into next week’s qualifying finals.

A bonus-point win eliminated any chance of the latter outcome, but the Blues will have the final say on the third seed on Saturday night in Hamilton.

Sevu Reece contributed two of the Crusaders’ seven tries in the 47-14 win, even nailing a sideline conversion in the 77th minute in what could be his final game in Christchurch.

Here are some takeaways from the match.

The David Havili example

The Crusaders’ captain has been in heroic form of late, earning plenty of well-deserved praise for his match-winning efforts last week against the Chiefs. The Crusaders would not have won that match-up without Havili’s big plays on both sides of the ball in winning moments.

At 31 years of age, with 12 seasons of Super Rugby under his belt and 30 All Blacks Tests, his presence and experience are exactly what you want from a leader in Super Rugby. But he’s a rare breed.

Havili re-signed with New Zealand Rugby and the Crusaders last May, at a point in time where he had fallen down the All Blacks’ pecking order but not quite out of the squad yet — that omission came one month later. He said that getting the Crusaders’ captaincy influenced his decision to re-sign, with the new contract keeping him in New Zealand until the end of 2027.

Three of the next-best options for the All Blacks midfield will leave New Zealand at the end of this season: AJ Lam of the Blues, and two of Havili’s Crusaders running mates, Braydon Ennor and Dallas McLeod. All three have been prominent faces for the All Blacks XV in recent years, and the latter two have Test caps to their name.

Havili is the shining example of why keeping players in New Zealand is so important: leadership and reliable depth.

Should injury strike next year at the World Cup, he’ll be there. And for the young Crusaders coming through, he’s there now.

The All Blacks join Super Rugby pre-seasons late and take sabbaticals; a loosening of the eligibility criteria would gut the teams of the already shrinking leadership within the country.

22m Entries

Avg. Points Scored

2.6

18

Entries

Avg. Points Scored

7

2

Entries

The confidence of youth

Say what you like about the New Zealand U20 program, but the recent graduates filtering into Super Rugby aren’t exactly lacking confidence.

While the season started with disappointment for one of the class of ’25’s biggest stars, Dylan Pledger, it has delivered for the halfback’s 2024 teammates, Malachi Wrampling, Isaac Hutchinson, Xavi Taele, and Johnny Lee.

Wrampling is entering the collision area expecting to bust through; Hutchinson is using footwork like he’s still facing high school opponents; Taele is one of the busiest midfielders in the competition; and Lee has Will Jordan seeing double when standing next to Ethan Blackadder.

Cooper Roberts is the latest to make his debut, donning the No.23 jersey on Friday after owning the No.13 jersey for the Baby Blacks in 2025 and quickly earning the same number for Tasman in the NPC.

The 21-year-old’s Crusaders debut was littered with highlight plays, chief among them his offloads, which were as audacious as they were well-executed.

In a scrappy game, Roberts put in one of the more composed performances, with one poor defensive read among several good ones in the challenging 13-channel.

The U20 environment may not have delivered a world title since 2017, but that isn’t stopping its players from stepping into Super Rugby with bravado.

Hurricanes playing with fire

Yes, they finished first, but the Hurricanes were put in an awkward position this week.

With essentially just one bye under their belt all season due to their first one coming in round 1, coach Clark Laidlaw took the opportunity to rest his players this week in an attempt to level the playing field.

The opportunities given to the younger squad members, including three debuts, provided valuable Super Rugby experience but also resulted in a hefty loss.

The Crusaders made 16 linebreaks in the match, beating 42 tackles and making 559 post-contact metres.

While the defending champs started a near full-strength XV, substitutions were made early with the win basically in the bag by halftime, offering the top Crusaders some extra respite, too.

The Crusaders have now won four of their last five despite having the toughest record in the competition over that stretch, building momentum heading into the playoffs.

The team say the last month has validated the belief that was always there, and another big win will bring yet more positivity to the serial champions’ camp.

If Dave Rennie wants fitness

Codie Taylor said this week he’s been told by the new All Blacks head coach that the fitness standards will be raised this year.

Dave Rennie is understood to have a bespoke metric called BIGGA (Back In Game, Go Again) to measure effort, which gives players three seconds to get off the ground; achieve that task 85 per cent of the time, and you’re in the coach’s good books; don’t, and you get a special training session with him on Monday.

So, who’s the fittest of the bunch?

Christian Lio-Willie has played the third-most minutes for the Crusaders this season, the most of any forward, and yet was trusted to play all 80 again on Friday night.

The No.8 is one of just two players in the top 10 for both carries and completed tackles this season, joined by Moana Pasifika’s Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa, who trails Lio-Willie in both categories. There is absolutely no doubting the 27-year-old’s motor.

Watching Lio-Willie in the final 10 minutes of this game — his 14th of the season while ahead by 20 points— the effort was never lacking. His fitness, habits and mindset have him well-placed to earn favour with the new regime and add to his four All Blacks caps in 2026.