Crusaders unfazed by scheduling oddity
Scott Robertson doesn’t believe the Crusaders have been shafted by the Super Rugby Aotearoa schedulemakers.
Others might disagree, given the Crusaders and Chiefs are the only sides in the 10-week competition who effectively benefit from one of their two byes.
A sole week off to recharge the batteries and allow aching bodies to heal before winding up again isn’t ideal, especially not when the matches border on test-match intensity.
‘‘It’s a good point, [and it depends] how you look at it,’’ Crusaders coach Robertson said.
‘‘I think because we get our rhythm – four games in a row – we don’t actually mind playing it.’’
The Crusaders had a round one bye, and the Chiefs have a bye in the final round, weeks off which essentially don’t help the cause.
But someone had to cop it that way and there will be no sympathy from the other teams, particularly the Highlanders, who have had their fair share of untimely byes in recent years.
Robertson maintains he isn’t fazed, even though the 3-0 Blues will be recharged when they roll into Christchurch next weekend to tackle the Crusaders, and again before they host the red-and-blacks in the final match of the competition. On the other hand, the Crusaders’ remaining bye splits their eight matches down the middle.
‘‘We had nine games in a row last year, probably not as brutal, but we had a big tour to South Africa,’’ Robertson said.
‘‘We just found the more we played, the better it was for us as a group, we got our training week right, and then we just took the full week off for a bye, come back in and the boys are hissing.’’
Before the Crusaders turn their attention to the Blues humdinger, they must deal with the Aaron Mauger-coached Highlanders in Dunedin tonight.
On the evidence of the first three rounds, that’s easier said than done.
Not only did the Highlanders roll the Chiefs under the roof in round one, they came within a whisker of tipping over the Blues at Eden Park last week.
Many would argue they perhaps should have won. Regardless, it’s clear the Dunedin-based outfit are significantly more dangerous than the team which flopped to a 1-1-4 record pre-Covid.
‘‘Early in the season, they didn’t have a couple of things go their way, and they have now. It can change pretty quickly,’’ Robertson said.
‘‘They have got a hard-working coaching group and a hard-working group of men. That’s how you get those changes in anything.’’
Given the miserable weather in
Super Rugby Aotearoa, Crusaders v Highlanders Tonight, 7.05pm Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Mike Fraser
Crusaders $1.25 Highlanders $3.65
David Havili, Will Jordan, Braydon Ennor, Jack Goodhue, Leicester Faingaanuku, Richie Mo’unga, Mitchell Drummond, Whetukamokamo Douglas, Tom Christie, Ethan Blackadder, Mitchell Dunshea, Samuel Whitelock, Michael Alaalatoa, Codie Taylor (captain), Joe Moody. Reserves: Andrew Makalio, George Bower, Oliver Jager, Quinten Strange, Sione Havili, Ere Enari, Fetuli Paea, Sevu Reece.
Michael Collins, Ngane Punivai, Rob Thompson, Sio Tomkinson, Jona Nareki, Mitch Hunt, Aaron Smith, Marino Mikaele Tu’u, Dillon Hunt, Shannon Frizell, Josh Dickson, Pari Pari Parkinson, Jeff Thwaites, Liam Coltman, Daniel Lienert-Brown. Reserves: Ash Dixon, Ayden Johnstone, Siate Tokolahi, Jack Whetton, Teariki Ben-Nicholas, Kayne Hammington, Bryn Gatland, Vilimoni Koroi.
What:
When: Where:
Referee: TAB odds:
Crusaders:
Highlanders:
Christchurch the past 10 days, the Crusaders swapped Rugby Park for English Park’s artificial turf and the well-drained Orangetheory Stadium in preparation for the hard and fast surface in Dunedin.
‘‘We are quite happy to play under the roof, especially with the weather we have been having. They are fast games, high tempo. We’ve got an extremely fit team and enjoy that style of play,’’ Robertson said.
The Highlanders had sold 18,000 of the 22,800 available tickets by Thursday and are bringing back the team’s theme song from their
days, albeit with tweaked lyrics to appease Southland folk.