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Crusaders banking on new era of loose forwards after haemorrhaging experience
The Crusaders created a dynasty between 1998 and 2011 when they won seven Super Rugby titles.
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The wheels fell off a little bit after Robbie Deans left to take up a role with the Wallabies but Scott Robertson’s appointment in 2017 saw instant success.
The red and black machine has now reasserted themselves as Super Rugby’s top dogs with three championships on the trot.
Robertson wasn’t the only change at the franchise, however.
Since the former player’s appointment, he’s brought in a range of talented players that have had key roles in the Crusaders’ success.
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2017 saw Mitchell Dunshea, Bryn Hall and George Bridge make their debuts. 2018 and 2019 saw the introduction of Billy Harmon, Braydon Ennor, Will Jordan and Sevu Reece.
These fresh young talents have helped propel the Crusaders back to the top of the table – but that’s not to say that the older legion haven’t played an important part in the franchise’s success.
All Blacks Kieran Read, Sam Whitelock, Matt Todd, Owen Franks, Israel Dagg and Ryan Crotty have been key cogs for the Crusaders over the last decade – and all six of those players will be absent in 2020.
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In fact, across the board, the Crusaders have lost influential men.
At the end of a World Cup cycle, it’s become common to see older players move on to more financially rewarding roles. The Crusaders, who have always provided a handy number of men to the national side, have been the hardest hit of New Zealand’s franchises.
Along with the previously mentioned six, the Crusaders will have to cope without Tim Perry, Ben Funnell, Jordan Taufua, Mitchell Hunt and Tim Bateman next year.
As any good team should, the Crusaders have been preparing for the losses, filtering through young talent players throughout the years to help them adjust to the level required for Super Rugby.
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Still, no matter the quality of those succession plans, they won’t make up for the 1100-plus caps that have headed offshore.
@CrusadersRugby have unveiled a new logo ahead of the 2020 @SuperRugby season.https://t.co/fJAHXHUITr#SuperRugby
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Perhaps the fast-developing Andrew Makalio can cover for Ben Funnell and Samoan international Michael Alaalatoa can step into Frank’ shoes – and there’s plenty of talent across the backline to cover the likes of Hunt, Crotty and Dagg, but it’s in the loose forwards where the Crusaders may struggle in 2020.
In Read, Todd and Taufua, the Crusaders have lost a loose forward trio averaging over 130 caps. No team in the competition can even come close to competing with that experience and regardless of the potential of the players that will stepping into the vacated roles in 2020, there’s going to be a noticeable drop.
Only a year prior, the Crusaders also lost Pete Samu – now a Wallaby – and Heiden Bedwell-Curtis, who showing a surprisingly good turn of form for the Crusaders but then struggled to earn any game-time at the Hurricanes.
The net result is that the Crusaders have four players on their books in 2020 who will be entering their debut season of Super Rugby: Tom Christie, Cullen Grace, Ethan Roots and Sione Havili.
There’s plenty to like about the new quartet, who will make no doubt make up for their lack of experience with youthful exuberance.
Christie, former captain of Shirley Boys’ High School, spent two years in the New Zealand Under 20 side and is one of the most promising openside flankers in the country. Robertson will be hopeful that Christie can showcase the same sort of skills that made the likes of Todd and Richie McCaw such exceptional players.
Grace, who captained the Timaru Boys’ first XV, spent his formative years in the second row but will likely be called upon to cover the blindside flank due to the logjam of talent that the Crusaders still have in the locks, despite Whitelock’s departure. Grace is yet to play a game of provincial rugby.
The Crusaders could have made a statement as a force for good. They didn't, writes Hamish Bidwell. https://t.co/biMHQKKaqG
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Roots, who has travelled south from North Harbour, was the top tackler in the 2019 Mitre 10 Cup, with 144 to his name. Roots can cover both blindside flanker and number 8 and could find himself thrust into a starting role early thanks to the departure of Read as well as the early-season absence of Ethan Blackadder, who has undergone shoulder surgery.
That leaves Havili, who earned one cap for the Blues in 2018. The Tasman flanker was one of the Mitre 10 Cup premier’s best players throughout their successful campaign – which is saying something, considering the talented loose forwards they had at their disposal. Havili was awarded the Golden Boot award in 2016 as the nation’s top schoolboy player and could be used anywhere in the Crusaders’ loose forward trio, though shone out on the openside flank for Tasman.
With 22-year-old Roots the oldest of the four, the Crusaders will be heavily dependant on the experience of the loosies that have remained with the team from 2019 – but even that doesn’t push the average age up much.
28-year-old Whetu Douglas is comfortably the oldest of the lot, with Tom Sanders, Billy Harmon and Ethan Blackadder all 25 or younger.
All-in-all, the Crusaders’ loose forward trio of yesteryear is long gone, which could make things tricky for season’s champions when the competition kicks off at the end of the month.
Regardless, Scott Robertson will have plenty of faith in his inexperienced charges and clearly knows how to get the best out of young players, having coached the New Zealand Under 20 side for two years.
The 2020 Crusaders may not resemble the team of old, but you’d be foolish to write off their chances simply due to the freshness of the loose forwards. In their new recruits, they have players with boundless potential, while their slightly more wizened players have served their apprenticeships well.
The Kieran Read era may be over, but that doesn’t mean the Crusaders dynasty will come to an end.
WATCH: The Crusaders were very close to losing head coach Scott Robertson to the national set-up.
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
81 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
3 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
26 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
3 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
3 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
26 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to comments