Brotherly love on hold for now

Sam Whitelock will hope he isn’t the one wearing the upside-down smile when he shakes his sibling’s hand tomorrow night.

Images of the Crusaders captain burying younger brother, Luke, into the turf when they were kids growing up in Manawatu popped into the mind as he recalled a prematch conversation they had ahead of the Super Rugby quarterfinal against the Highlanders in Christchurch.

What seems certain, of course, is that the tackles unleashed at AMI Stadium will be more thunderous than those executed on the family farm as youngsters. The stakes for both teams, so desperate to keep their title hopes alive, are massive.

Neither of the Whitelock boys has been in a team that has won the competition, and for Sam, already one of the great All Blacks locks and a two-time World Cup gold medal winner, there is a sense of unfinished business when it comes to the Sanzaar competition. A Super Rugby crown is one of the few things he has not celebrated since turning professional with the Crusaders in 2010.

In case you were wondering, the brothers didn’t seem to bother with the business of telling each other who is going to need to be peeled off the grass first when they spoke recently.

‘‘As soon as the fixture was set, Luke was ringing-up [saying] ‘right, who is getting the tickets for mum and dad, and all those

things’,’’ Sam said.

‘‘Not a lot said about the game, but we are always talking. We will have a good catch-up afterwards. It is probably a great thing we get to play against each other - mum and dad are still on the fence as they always will be.’’

The Highlanders, who have won 10 of their last 11 games, welcome back co-captain fullback Ben Smith from concussion, along with halfback Aaron Smith.

The Crusaders have revamped their line-up following the 31-22 defeat to the Hurricanes last weekend, which ended their 14-game unbeaten streak.