It’s finals time
Order an X-ray on Ere Enari’s left-leg and you’ll be forgiven for thinking he’s some kind of cyborg.
The 21-year-old Canterbury and Crusaders halfback’s lower limb is held together by metal, the result of a rotten run of breaks which have resulted in him spending a ton of time rehabilitating the past three years.
Enari, a World Cup winner with the New Zealand under-20s last year, snapped his fibula in 2015, before re-breaking it against Auckland last October. To make matters worse, the collision also broke his tibia.
It made for three breaks in the space of two years, a bitter pill to swallow after inking a two-year deal with the Crusaders.
Highly rated by Crusaders coach Scott Robertson, Enari now gets around with a metal rod running down his tibia, while a plate and screws are supporting his fibular.
‘‘I was hoping so, but not quite,’’ Enari joked when asked if he set off the airport metal detectors.
He’s in good spirits, having been named on Canterbury’s bench for their semifinal against Tasman in Nelson on Friday night.
It will be his second professional match back, after he came off the bench in last weekend’s win against Counties Manukau in Pukekohe.
It marked one year to the day since a trailing Auckland defender wiped him out.
‘‘Once you get onto the field again, then you just don’t think about it and everything comes naturally when you’re out there.
‘‘The mental stuff is more when you’re off the field watching and thinking about it,’’ Enari said. Born and bred in Auckland, Enari moved to Christchurch in 2015 to take up a scholarship at Lincoln University, where he is studying marketing.
He played a couple of club games back in May, and trained with the Crusaders for much for the year.
It led to optimism he would be ready for the start of the Mitre 10 Cup, but he had to wait.
‘‘I think it’s more getting the biomechanics of my running right. My leg was quite good 10 months in, but making sure that I was ready to perform at a proper level, instead of coming in underdone.
‘‘I think we just focussed on not rushing the process,’’ he said.
‘‘When you’re closer to playing and you get minor setbacks, that’s probably the hardest part.
‘‘When you’ve got a long-term injury you kind of accept that nice and early and make sure you’ve got a process to work through.’’
Enari used his time on the sidelines to spend more time with family and friends, and learnt how to surf with flatmate and Canterbury wing Caleb Makene.
He will backup Mitch Drummond on Friday night, with a spot in next week’s final – against either Auckland or Wellington – at stake for the winner.
Luke Whitelock, who captained Canterbury to their three most recent titles, returns to the side and will start at No 8 after not making the All Blacks
32-man squad for the northern tour.
Loosehead prop Joe Moody, having got through 34 minutes against Counties in his return from a broken thumb last week, will also start, before joining the All Blacks in Yokohama next week.
Canterbury, gunning for their
10th title in the past 11 years, were beaten 25-17 by Tasman in Blenheim in round one.
Coach Joe Maddock is not talking about avenging the result.
‘‘We know we underperformed in round one and they were very good and deserved the win. Have we been looking forward to it? No.
‘‘Not that we’re not happy about playing Tasman. For us, it was just about getting to the final four. You get here, you’ve got a chance.
‘‘Now, it’s about us going out and performing the best we can.’’