Three All Blacks return as Crusaders roll changes for Moana Pasifika
Three All Blacks will make their first appearances for the Crusaders this season when the competition-leaders take on new side Moana Pasifika on Friday night.
Ethan Blackadder, Codie Taylor and Richie Mo’unga are all set to take the field this weekend with Blackadder one of 10 personnel changed named to the run-on side.
Brodie McAlister and Oli Jager retain their spots from the Crusaders’ opening two wins of the competition at hooker and tighthead prop respectively while George Bower earns his first start of the season in place of Joe Moody, who gets a rest from the 23.
Mitch Dunshea and Quinten Strange take over from Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock in the second row with Strange taking over as captain for the match.
In the loose forwards, Argentina’s Pablo Matera shifts from the blindside flank to number 8 with Blackadder slotting into Matera’s vacated role on the side of the scrum. Tom Christie will make his third start of the season at No 7.
Former Chief Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi will earn his first minutes for the Crusaders against Moana Pasifika and has been named alongside Simon Hickey in the halves.
Leicester Fainga’anuku has been moved from the wing to the midfield for Friday night’s clash and will line up alongside Dallas McLeod, who made three starts and nine appearances off the bench last year for the Super Rugby Aotearoa champions.
In the outside backs, Kini Naholo will earn his first Crusaders cap on the left wing with George Bridge manning the right and Chay Fihaki named at fullback.
Taylor, Tamaiti Williams and Fletcher Newell provide front-row cover on the bench with lock Dominic Gardiner set for his Super Rugby debut and Corey Kellow on hand to back up after last week’s inaugural appearance in the red and black.
Bryn Hall, Mo’unga and another debutant in the form of Isaiah Punivai will cover the backs.
“It’s always good to use the squad and give everyone that’s trained extremely hard that opportunity,” head coach Scott Robertson said of the mass changes. “We’ve got some excited boys.”
Moana Pasifika have yet to play a competition match this year after Covid forced the postponement of their two opening fixtures. That means they have not played against outside opposition since their first-up pre-season game against the Chiefs, which they lost 61-7.
Despite the obvious difficulties the team have had, however, Robertson is expecting them to come out firing.
“The challenge is to really respect the players, the individual players, and probably the situation they’re in,” Roberston said. “This will be a really tight group from all the adversity they’ve been through already.
“They might be shy of a game or a hit-out but they’ll be extremely motivated. They’ve got a lot of reasons to play well. It’s the opener for them so we’ve been very respectful in our prep.
“They’ve got some quality players across the field that can rip you open. They’ll be looking forward to expressing themselves. They’ve got a lot to play for.”
Friday night’s match will kick off at 7:05pm NZT from Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
Crusaders: Chay Fihaki, George Bridge, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Dallas McLeod, Kini Naholo, Simon Hickey, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, Pablo Matera, Tom Christie, Ethan Blackadder, Quinten Strange, Mitch Dunshea, Oli Jager, Brodie McAlister, George Bower. Reserves: Codie Taylor, Tamaiti Williams, Fletcher Newell, Dominic Gardiner, Corey Kellow, Bryn Hall, Richie Mo’unga, Isaiah Punivai.
Comments on RugbyPass
Should'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.
19 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.
19 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?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to comments