Crusaders scrum ‘main threat’
No prizes for guessing what Highlanders scrum coach Clarke Dermody is expecting from the Crusaders on Saturday night.
Now in his fifth year with the Dunedin-based franchise, the 37-year-old has seen the red and blacks’ pack dismantle more than enough teams to prompt extra vigilance ahead of the South Island derby at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Not even the absence of injured All Blacks props Joe Moody and Owen Franks, and No 8 Kieran Read will allow him to let his guard down, not after watching their first three games.
"Obviously, the Crusaders use their scrum as a weapon. It’s an area that we have to be on our game," Dermody said.
"It’s one of those things and they’ve done it in all their games so far this year. Anytime they have felt under pressure, they’ve gone back to their set piece, used their scrum for penalties and used that to get into their mauling game."
That theory was on show in Wellington last Saturday night, when the Crusaders fell into a 26-5 hole before slowing the game down and using their powerful pack to grind their way back into the match they eventually lost 29-19.
While Moody, Franks and Read certainly won’t play on Saturday, the Crusaders could opt to name loosehead prop Tim Perry and flanker Tom Sanders in their 23 this week.
The injured duo haven’t yet featured in this year’s campaign, but made their comebacks for the Crusaders Knights in their loss to the Bravehearts (Highlanders development team) in Christchurch last weekend.
Dermody couldn’t give a hoot who lines up opposite his pack come 7.35pm on Saturday. He just knows his team must front up if they’re to end a three-match losing streak to their fierce rivals from up SH1.
"It’s definitely not a game we need to add more motivation to for our guys," Dermody said.
"I’m reasonably happy with how the boys have gone [in our first two games]. The funny thing with the old scrums, if you get too caught up in looking backwards you can come unstuck. We’re fully focussed on the challenge ahead."
Including last year’s quarterfinal loss in Christchurch, the Highlanders lost all three games to the reigning champions last year.
As painful as the memories of Mitch Hunt’s last gasp drop goal in Christchurch last July were, or Seta Tamanivalu’s last-ditch try to snatch a win in Dunedin in round two last March, Dermody and the coaching team have revisited the matches.
"We look back at those games and they were all pretty close in their own way. It was just a matter of us not really nailing the key moments in the game, while they probably did. Like I say, two of those games were right down to the wire, so it’s just a matter of nailing those big moments when we get that opportunity."
The Highlanders, albeit without their seven All Blacks – Ben Smith, Aaron Smith, Waisake Naholo, Liam Squire, Dillon Hunt, Luke Whitelock and Liam Coltman – who were tied up with a "foundation day" in Christchurch, started training for Saturday’s fixture on Monday.
They had their full contingent on deck yesterday, although Dermody confirmed flanker Dan Pryor (hamstring) was unlikely to be fit for the match, alongside James Lentjes (shoulder), utility Richard Buckman (neck) and midfielder Thomas Umaga-Jensen (shoulder).
Flanker Elliot Dixon, who took a head knock during last week’s captain’s run and was replaced by Marino Mikaele Tu’u, is still going through the concussion protocol but is on track to return.