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New Crusader Leigh Halfpenny would ‘welcome’ position change
Former Wales and British and Irish Lions fullback Leigh Halfpenny would “welcome” the opportunity to wear the Crusaders’ iconic No. 10 jersey next season after inking a one-year deal with the champion club.
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Halfpenny played his final game for Wales during last weekend’s 49-26 win over the Eddie Jones and Scott Robertson-coached Barbarians at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
The Test centurion was replaced during the second half, and after sharing a heartfelt embrace with outgoing great Alun Wyn Jones, Halfpenny jogged off the field for the last time as an active Welsh international.
But Halfpenny’s career is far from over. While the door has closed on his illustrious international career, the 34-year-old “can’t wait” to line up for the champion Crusaders in Super Rugby Pacific.
“When the text came through I got pretty excited,” Halfpenny told reporters this week.
“I’ve always enjoyed watching Super Rugby, grew up watching it as a kid, and the Crusaders was the team that I always followed.
“I’m just hugely grateful for the opportunity,” he added.
“I just can’t wait to come over and meet everyone and get started, just look to challenge myself, push myself, and look to do whatever I can for the team.”
But there are questions that remain unanswered about how Halfpenny will fit into the Crusaders’ matchday squad as they prepare to embark on their new era without Scott Robertson.
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With All Black Will Jordan almost certainly set to hold onto the fullback jersey next season, there may be an opportunity for Halfpenny to spread his wings as the Crusaders’ chief playmaker.
With seven-time Super Rugby winner Richie Mo’unga leaving New Zealand for an opportunity in Japan, Halfpenny would embrace the chance to step into that role.
“Fullback is where I play, where I enjoy playing. But wherever I get the opportunity to put the jersey on, I’m happy” Halfpenny said.
“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.”
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Halfpenny will go down in history as one of the best fullbacks in Welsh rugby history. The goal-kicking sharpshooter is third on the men’s international points-scoring list with 801.
Following the British and Irish Lions’ thrilling 2-1 series win over the Wallabies in Australia 10 years ago, Halfpenny was crowned the team’s Player of the Series. The fullback played four Test matches for the Lions across two tours in 2013 and 2017.
“Leigh’s a footballer with a huge amount of experience, charisma and skill,” Crusaders coach Rob Penney said. “We had our feelers out for a while, and Leigh was finishing up his time with Wales and still had a big desire to play at the highest level, so it’s a great fit for us.
“Leigh adds even more maturity to our backline, while also bringing in some Northern Hemisphere perspective, so yeah, we’re excited about what he’ll bring into camp.”
Comments on RugbyPass
My 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
74 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
1 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!
74 Go to commentsNot a squeek out of Leinster for weeks about this match. So quiet. The first team have been quitely building for this encounter under Nienaber’s direction. All fresh, all highly motivated. They are expecting a season’s best performance from Northhampton. They will match that. They will be fresher and apparently they will have 80,000 out of the 83,000 shouting for them. I do expect Northhampton to turn up big time. Not to be missed. On a tangent it is evident how the loss of a few Premiership teams has in some respect helped other Premiership teams and England. More quality over less teams makes the teams better, which has a knock on effect on England. Not the only factor contributing to England’s rise but one of them.
5 Go to commentsOur very own monster teddy bear Ox😍💪
17 Go to commentsThis is might be the most generalised, entitled, patronising, out-of-pocket cultural indictment on a group of people you’ll ever see on what is supposedly a sports publication. I can only assume the author is weak like a woman or homosexual. I’m feeling an incredible range of emotions but I am not quite sure how to express them. I might go beat up a hockey player - assuming that’s okay with Duane and the boys? 🙂
9 Go to commentsBest thing the Welsh clubs could do is apply to join Gallagher prem surely be more exciting matches for there support than they have now.
2 Go to commentsRugbyPass writers are useless! you guys should get a real job because you all suck at writing about rugby!!!
9 Go to comments