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'This is my turn': The next openside flanker set to continue the Crusaders legacy

By Tom Vinicombe
Tom Christie. (Photos by Getty Images)

The Crusaders have a history of producing somewhat handy openside flankers.

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Matt Todd had a stronghold on the fetcher position with the red and blacks for the last four seasons while All Blacks legend Richie McCaw spent almost 15 years as the region’s preferred openside.

While it’s still early days yet, it appears that 22-year-old Tom Christie is the next man set for a long stint in the coveted No. 7 jersey.

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We spoke to the young Blue flanker after his impressive start to Super Rugby Aotearoa about what’s motivating his consistently outstanding performances.

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We spoke to the young Blue flanker after his impressive start to Super Rugby Aotearoa about what’s motivating his consistently outstanding performances.

Christie, who captained the New Zealand Under 20 side at the 2018 World Championships, was in exceptional form for Canterbury during last year’s Mitre 10 Cup but wasn’t anticipating getting too many minutes in Super Rugby this year, despite Todd’s departure overseas.

Billy Harmon, now in his third season with the Crusaders, was the man earmarked to take over from Todd but a pre-season knee injury parked him on the sidelines for the competition’s kick-off. In stepped Christie – and he hasn’t looked back since.

“I was really happy with how the year started off for me,” Christie told RugbyPass.

“Obviously, I knew there was going to be an opportunity with Toddy leaving but for me to see as much game time as I did, I definitely didn’t anticipate anything like that. I was just stoked to be out there, for one thing, and to get a taste of what Super Rugby’s like.

“I’m very competitive in what I do, so I want to strive for those honours but definitely, I didn’t have any anticipation of playing the six games that we got [before COVID halted the season] and playing quite a lot of minutes in those games too. It was the perfect dream run for me.”

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The downside, of course, is that Christie hasn’t spent as much time either training or playing alongside Harmon – a man a few years his senior who was an excellent mentor at Canterbury over Christie’s first two seasons with the province.”

“You’ve got to look at both sides of the coin,” said Christie. “I was gutted to see Billy get injured because he’s such a good player as well and when me and him are both in teams together, like Canterbury, it’s really good to have that kind of competition aspect

“Fortunately, he’s recovered now, so we’ve got that battle back and having more competition is going to be exciting.”

Even now that Harmon is injury-free, however, Christie’s still the Crusaders’ go-to man. Harmon started the opening two matches of Super Rugby Aotearoa, with Christie nursing an injury of his own, but Christie was reinstated for the Crusader’ games against the Highlanders and the Chiefs.

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That’s a credit to the work that the former Shirley Boys’ High student got through in the first six rounds of the initial Super Rugby season.

From the Crusaders’ opening round fixture against the Waratahs, it was apparent that Christie was something special. In that 43-25 win, Christie notched up 18 tackles – four more than any other Crusader player.

By the end of the Crusaders’ six matches, Christie had made 111 tackles – that’s over 18 tackles a game and 23 more tackles than Liam Wright, the competition’s second most productive tackler. Christie had also clocked up the second-most minutes of any Crusaders player and forced 5 ruck penalties, which placed him second overall behind Lachlan Boshier.

Those figures would put seasoned professionals to shame yet Christie is just in his debut season.

Still, despite defying the expectations anyone would have for a debutant, Christie is still just finding his feet at Super Rugby level.

“The focus for me was was just kind of getting settled,” Christie said. “Obviously, we won our first few games, but I was still reasonably nervous because I like to hold myself to high standards in anything I do.

“After the first games, it just became more about getting comfortable with the new level of rugby and just settling into what it was going to be like. It wasn’t too much about trying to do everything, it was just about getting that consistency in my game and just trusting myself at that next level.”

Christie, naturally, is well-aware of the legacy behind the Crusaders 7 jersey – and has made the most of the time he’s spent around Matt Todd over the last couple of years.

“I just watched, really, and picked up a lot of his mannerisms, a lot of his professional traits,” Christie said of the 25-cap All Black. “He’s just the perfect guy to model your behaviour off because everything he does in his preparation and stuff is spot on. Those are the big learnings I took from him, how you can really be a professional and deliver week-in and week-out.

“He and Richie obviously had different careers but they both gave a lot to the 7 jersey for the Crusaders. That’s why it’s one of those jerseys that’s just so special.

“I’m a Canterbury kid; I grew up watching McCaw first and then Toddy. Up at Nelson for my Crusaders debut, it was an awesome moment to first of all, kind of see the 7 jersey and hold it, and then secondly, to actually sit there and go, ‘This is my turn.’

“For someone who’s grown up watching those guys, it was quite a moment.”

Perhaps the greatest benefit of Super Rugby Aotearoa has been seeing players who are ultimately all vying for the black jersey go head to head every week.

Sam Cane and Ardie Savea will, of course, have large roles to play at the next World Cup but with Todd now based in Japan, there’s potentially room for another tearaway to make the step up to the next level. That presents an opportunity for the likes of Dalton Papalii, Lachlan Boshier, Du’Plessis Kirifi, Dillon Hunt and Christie, amongst others.

And while Christie is just focussing on Super Rugby Aotearoa for the moment, it would be disingenuous to suggest that playing for the Crusaders is necessarily the end goal for the 22-year-old.

“I’ve always backed myself, I’ve always had the dream of wanting to play rugby at the next level but you never really think it’s going to happen,” said Christie. “Obviously, just like any other Kiwi kids, when I was five, I wanted to be an All Blacks star. It’s something you’re kind of working towards but it’s never something that you’re like, ‘Right, that’s going to happen.’

“I’ve still got that boyhood dream now.”

If Christie keeps performing to the same high standard he’s already set in Super Rugby to date, then perhaps All Blacks honours could be on the cards sooner rather than later.

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J
Jon 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

35 Go to comments
j
john 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

30 Go to comments
A
Adrian 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

30 Go to comments
T
Trevor 12 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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