Enari nears return
As if Scott Robertson hasn’t had enough to cheer about in recent weeks, the Crusaders’ coach is about to get one of his players back on the paddock for the first time in almost a year.
Halfback Ere Enari missed the entire Super Rugby season for the champion Crusaders, but could return from a lengthy injury layoff in Canterbury’s Mitre 10 Cup opener against Tasman in Blenheim on Friday night.
Shortly after inking a two-year deal with the Crusaders last October, Enari broke a leg playing for Canterbury against Auckland. It was his second broken leg in the space of two years, after he snapped a fibula in 2015.
Robertson is a big fan of Enari, and was desperate to hang onto him when he took over the Crusaders in late 2016, when the franchise already had Mitchell Drummond, Bryn Hall and Leon Fukofuka on the books.
Enari was included as injury cover, and made his lone appearance for Christchurch-based franchise against the Brumbies in week one of last season.
The 21-year-old trained with the Crusaders down the stretch this year, and has until Thursday to prove he’s fit to play in the rematch of the 2016 and 2017 NPC finals.
‘‘We’re hoping he will be fit and ready to go [on Friday night]. He’s got a few boxes to tick before
we get him across the line,’’ Canterbury coach Joe Maddock said.
Drummond is expected to start the match. If Enari isn’t cleared, Connor Collins, who started against the All Blacks in last Friday night’s ‘game of three halves’, could come into the 23.
Maddock’s lineup for the season opener could include a positional switch for Crusaders wing Braydon Ennor, one of Enari’s New Zealand team-mates from last year’s under-20 World Cup winning team.
Fresh off an impressive rookie season on the wing for the Crusaders, Maddock plans to run Ennor at centre as Canterbury chase their 10th national provincial title in the past 11 years.
Ennor is a natural midfielder, playing at centre for the New Zealand under-20s, before scoring 10 tries on the wing in his debut season for Canterbury last year.
Canterbury have a void to fill in the midfield, given Rob Thompson has returned home to Manawatu, and last year’s skipper, Tim Bateman, is off to Japan to play for the Ricoh Black Rams.
The red and blacks have signed Christchurch-born Phil Burleigh, who played for the Chiefs and Highlanders before heading to Edinburgh, and Timaru product Sam Beard.
‘‘Sammy and Braydon can both run around in that [centre] spot, and I expect Braydon to be there more than on the wing, as he was last year,’’ Maddock said.
‘‘Sammy is more than capable at 12 and 13, so excited to see what kind of of combination we can get out of those guys, as well as chucking experienced Phil Burleigh in the mix.’’
In addition to Bateman and Thompson, Canterbury have lost flanker Jed Brown to Tasman, lock Dominic Bird to French club Racing 92, and halfback Jack Stratton to Waikato. Hooker Ben Funnell (knee) is out for the season, and props Siate Tokolahi (knee) and Oli Jager (shoulder) are also ‘‘unlikely’’ to feature.
But losing a stack of experience, after replacing now Highlanders defence coach Glenn Delaney and becoming the third head coach in as many years, doesn’t change anything for Maddock.
‘‘I think you’ve got to embrace it,’’ Maddock said of taking over such a successful team.
‘‘If it scares you, that’s good. It means it’s important, it’s something you care about. I’m not going to shirk away from the fact we’re expected to win, and our people expect us to win.’’