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Why the Crusaders have an unfair advantage over their Super Rugby Aotearoa rivals
Stockpiling of talent.
All Super Rugby coaches would love to go five deep in one position.
Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan could be forgiven for casting an envious eye at Scott Robertson’s locking riches at the Crusaders.
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The red and blacks are choosing from Sam Whitelock, Scott Barrett, Quinten Strange, Mitch Dunshea and Luke Romano. That is three All Blacks and two fringe ABs. Great for the Crusaders, ridiculous for the competition.
The draft system in the early days of Super Rugby had its flaws, but the premise on which it was founded – to spread the top talent relatively evenly throughout the five franchises – was sound.
When central contracting was embedded a few years ago – allowing the Chiefs, for example, to sign Brodie Retallick from outside their borders from the 2012 season – it seemed like a triumph for the open market. Players could go where they liked to further their career and not have to rely on some coach’s goodwill in the draft if they were not in the protected 24 or so.
But Ian Foster, seeking to build his second-row depth, will surely not be happy with the Crusaders having a quality quintet, no pun intended, of fours and fives on their books. Not when the Chiefs, to use them again as an example, have no Retallick, and are banking on two 21-year-olds (Tupou Vaa’i and Naitoa Ah Kuoi) and a 20-year-old (Josh Lord) to do the business in 2021, aided by a workhorse who is more suited to the blindside (Mitch Brown).
The other Chiefs locking tyro – Laghlan McWhannell – is 22, but has never pulled on a Chiefs jersey due to a hellish run with injury. McMillan can talk about promise and the future, but the future is now, and he needs results. He needs tough veterans in the middle of the pack.
Whitelock and Barrett will, all things being equal, be the starting locks for the Crusaders in 2021. Off the bench will come Strange, who would be an All Black now were it not for an untimely injury last season. He is 24 and will still see plenty of game time, but the Highlanders were very keen on him to be a regular starter. Strange rebuffed them, leading to Tony Brown going for Bryn Evans, 12 years past his peak, with all due respect, to bring some nous to a young, often injured, locking core.
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Strange has decided to take his chance at the Crusaders until 2023, be patient if need be in the No 19 jersey, learn off Whitelock and Barrett, and try and keep the heat on the top dogs.
Dunshea was the unsung hero of the 2020 Crusaders pack, bringing such consistency to his work that he too found himself in the All Blacks squad. Where does he fit in if there are no injuries? He’s 22 games deep into his Crusaders career, but he could easily be a starter at the Chiefs, Highlanders or even the Blues.
Romano knows his role. He is 35 and has 134 caps under his belt. He loves keeping the youngsters on their toes, as witnessed by his Mitre 10 Cup form in the last three seasons. Not motivated by overseas money, Romano wants to stay close to his hunting haunts in rural Canterbury, but if called upon to start, Robertson knows his veteran will mark up.
Strange clearly loves the Crusaders, but it would be better for his burgeoning career if he were at the Chiefs or even Highlanders.
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The Crusaders are the champs, and why wouldn’t you want to keep playing for the champs? But coaches should be satisfied with three-four deep at lock, not five deep.
There will be those who point the finger at the Blues, and their four All Blacks loosehead props. Maybe so, but they can fit all four into a match-day 23.
However, whilst Dillon Hunt is a good signing for the Blues, they do not need him, Dalton Papali’i and Blake Gibson as their opensides. One of them should have gone to the Crusaders or Highlanders. Maybe they will in 2022.
None of this will concern the Crusaders. They will argue that they create a winning culture that helps retain players, even when there is a logjam in their position. It all means that, other than depth at hooker, they have no apparent weaknesses as they drive for five.
Comments on RugbyPass
I’ve put on 4/5 kilos since the beginning of the season too. Not good kilos. Bad kilos.
1 Go to commentsSurely there’s a ‘no knobheads’ policy ?
2 Go to commentsWallaroos have no chance of beating the Black Ferns unless Canada upsets them in Christchurch tomorrow but I doubt that as well!
1 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Could the victim do a course to reverse the long term CTE damage from the cheapshot?
2 Go to commentsTruely great player. In social media and opinion pieces he was held up and flogged for the results. People wanted someone to crucify, and he was the captain. He was still an immense presence respected by his peers. His battles with Siya Kolisi belong up with with Collins vs Burger in my opinion. Unlucky to be carded in the final, but I don’t agree that his red card was the defining moment. Not when you look at the dominant performances of the Springboks (PSDT in particular.) I think Cane should be remembered for the spirit and physicality that is special to test rugby.
12 Go to commentsSam was the man until he got injured .
12 Go to comments_Crusaders versus Leinster _at the moment might be a rout! But I would like to see the Blues play Toulouse, the Hurricanes front up against Stade Francais, and the Chiefs go against Toulon.
157 Go to commentsLove it when we overlap! Promise it was not forethought.
18 Go to commentsjfc can this guy plz stay out of the news for one week
2 Go to commentsIf stormers aren’t available. Based on form and likely availability at the time of the wales Test, you’d think Masuku would be a no-brainer to start. But starting Jordan also makes sense having Masuku come off the bench to close out the game.
2 Go to commentsGlad Tom Curry not playing needs time to recover such a great player also his brother Ben how well is he playing now .
1 Go to commentsLet’s examine what might be irking the brainless E: Up until 20 years before this coming Julys tests: 16 games: 14 wins for SA; 1 win for Ire; 1 draw From 20 years until July’ tests Ireland V SA: 13 matches Ireland won 8; SA won 4; 1 draw Points scored Ireland 261; SA 189 Ave Winning Margin: Ireland 11 points; SA 4 points (away 3, home 6) Away win record: Ireland 33.33%; SA 25% Neutral matches 1: Ireland win RWC France 2023. Last SA win June 2016 (8 years ago) They boast 3 World cups in that period (they do boast). The above record is not good, probably not much better than theirs against NZ for same period. That’s why the dopey E is starting fights in his head. He will probably ship a yellow when things don’t go their way in the first test.
127 Go to commentsGoode is like a wet fart on The Rugby Pod and should be shoved aside. Jim knows what he is on about and can get on better without Goode’s nasty little cheap shots.
127 Go to commentsBrumbies will win, crusaders are pretty awful this year
1 Go to commentsThis has the makings of a good match. That’s Leinster’s second team but its a good one (stronger than the teams in SA recently). Ulster are really turning a page. Ryan back is huge, and Keenan too. This could be a cracker.
1 Go to commentsThe Farrells are one of the great father and son combinations. Andy was an RL great, and had he played Union as his first sport, I would be sure he would have been avery significant forcewas in League. And Owen, a Union great, who had he played League, would could have been a great there too i all probability. I feel my attitude to Owen has mellowed as he has aged, and in the post Jones era, evolved and shown his full range of talents. He really is an all round player, and I have wold hope his move to France will be successful. He may even be the piece in the jigsaw that Racing need to rise to challenge Toulouse and LAR. He is ofc now approaching 33 years of age but should still have enough left to make a big contribution in France for at least2/3 years.
45 Go to commentsI reckon it may be Jordan at 10 and Nohamba at 9, both players have played together alot and both have been on the Radar for a long time. After Pollard got injured in 2022 with Elton sidelined on a path of self destruction Erasmus and Nienaber indicated that the other options in the country at the time were thin but that Jordan and Manie were the 2 they were looking at. In the end Frans steyn played flyhalf, Willemse slotted in there on the end of year with Libbok as back up. Jordan was right there in the thinking back then so expect him to take the Jersey either as the starter.
2 Go to commentsHaha did he also* say it in a sarcastic teacher sort of manor or was it the petulant English snob sort of wail?
45 Go to commentsWell said Mils. It is a big boost at last having Fergus Burke back at 10 for the Crusaders. Had a great season last year as the article says. Mils is also right about captain Codie Taylor’s performance in his return to the Crusaders last week. He was all class.
4 Go to commentsLet’s make them both Capt. I think we'd get the best of both of them and it would help alleviate some of the pressures of the role. They'd have to confer over on field decisions which should lead to “ learnings “ for both. They are our two best consistent performers.
16 Go to comments