Ennor in selection mix for final
One-test All Black Braydon Ennor may force Crusaders coach Scott Robertson to give some poor soul the dreaded tap on the shoulder this week.
Ennor did enough in 60 minutes for his University club at the weekend to convince Robertson he should be considered for the Super Rugby Aotearoa final against the Chiefs in Christchurch on Saturday night, despite not having played first-class footy since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in the North versus South match in early September.
Although it was only Ennor’s second outing in the Christchurch metro competition, the Crusaders confirmed he’s earned the right to be a contender for the SRA title defence.
Naming wing/centre Ennor in the 23-man team for the clash at Orangetheory Stadium would be a massive call given he’s not played SRA this year, but Robertson has never been afraid to pull the trigger when making tough decisions.
That was evident when he omitted loosehead prop Wyatt Crockett from the team to play the Lions in the Super Rugby final in 2018; many felt All Black Crockett, who had made a record 203 appearances for the Crusaders, at least deserved a place on the bench in his swansong season but the ruthless Robertson picked Joe Moody and Tim Perry instead.
Crockett was forced to watch the victory from the stand at
Orangetheory Stadium and never represented the team again.
Assistant coach Scott Hansen confirmed yesterday Ennor had produced a sharp performance during University’s 43-26 win over Belfast.
Despite losing All Blacks midfielder Jack Goodhue with a season-ending knee injury last month, David Havili and Leicester Fainga’anuku have combined well at No 12 and 13 and Dallas McLeod has done little wrong as a substitute option.
All Blacks George Bridge and Sevu Reece are expected to be retained on the wings for the final, while Manasa Mataele was on the bench for the game against the Blues before last weekend’s bye. Robertson has to weigh-up whether to stick with status quo or rush Ennor back into a final that is likely to be as fast, and physical, as a test match.
Given the latter hasn’t played anything above club rugby in almost eight months, Ennor could be the one who gets tapped on the shoulder and told to prepare for the trans-Tasman competition instead.