RAZOR WONT RUSH ENNOR
Braydon Ennor is unlikely to be rushed back on to the park despite confirmation fellow midfielder Jack Goodhue is done for the season with a knee injury.
However, Crusaders coach Scott Robertson, having made sweeping changes to his team to play the Chiefs in Hamilton tomorrow night, didn’t slam the door entirely shut on the possibility of an early return from the knee injury which has sidelined him since last September.
Ennor ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) playing in the North v South match and has long been scheduled to return for the trans-Tasman competition, which starts the week after the Super Rugby Aotearoa final on May 8.
‘‘He plays club rugby next weekend. So, he gets two weeks. That final, it would have to be a pretty special couple of weeks playing in club footy level to be available,’’ Robertson said.
‘‘It’s still that game against the Brumbies, our first trans-Tasman game [on May 15], which we’re pitching for him.’’
The Crusaders can book a spot in the May 8 final by beating the resurgent Chiefs, but will have to do it without a raft of first-choice players, including rested lock Sam Whitelock, as they mark halfback Mitch Drummond’s 100th game for the franchise.
Number eight Cullen Grace has also been rested, while hooker Codie Taylor will come off the bench after playing all 82 minutes of last week’s golden point thriller against the Hurricanes in Wellington.
It makes for a new-look loose forwards trio, with captain Scott Barrett shifting from lock to blindside flanker to partner Tom Sanders and No 8 Ethan Blackadder, who returns from a week off with a neck niggle.
George Bower will start at loosehead prop for the injured Joe Moody (foot), while there are firstup appearances this season for prop Isileli Tu’ungafasi, lock Luke Romano and wing Manasa Mataele via the bench.
‘‘Six day turnaround, our highest running metres, it was our biggest ball in play we’ve had, against the Hurricanes, and there’s a whole group of players that have been sitting there, as you can see by the changes, ready to go,’’ Robertson said. ‘‘They’re keen. That’s the hardest part of this competition. You want continuity, you want cohesion, you play a team for a period of time and then all of a sudden you just need to make the changes when you get to week seven, week eight, of it. Give them a crack, they’re all keen.
‘‘That’s one thing, getting up for this match is going to be easy for the guys that haven’t had an opportunity.’’
Whitelock has played all but 16 minutes of the season and has been given a chance to freshen up ahead of Sunday week’s home clash against the Blues.
The top seeding, and the right to host the final which comes with it, could be on the line in the match, before the Crusaders have a round 10 bye.
A week after Leicester Fainga’anuku notched 115 metres on 11 carries after replacing Goodhue, the Tasman blockbuster will start at centre, where the Crusaders had always planned on giving him a run this season, just not under these circumstances.
‘‘He’s a wing that can play centre, there’s a bit of Tana [Umaga] about him. We can see he’s got that skill set where he can swap in and out . . . he’s a power 13 for us,’’ Robertson said.
Mataele recently finished rehabbing the pectoral injury he suffered playing for Canterbury during last year’s NPC campaign, and has played only three Super Rugby games since he suffered a serious knee injury in round two of the 2019 season.
‘‘He’s rehabbed so hard. There was a massive cheer when the team was named and his name came up. It was pretty emotional for him.
‘‘He’s been knocking on the door. We’ve got great outside backs, he’s a special part of the group off the field, he’s a bit of a spiritual leader for us.’’
‘‘Getting up for this match is going to be easy for the guys that haven’t had an opportunity.’’ Scott Robertson Crusaders coach