Ennor shows perfect timing
Braydon Ennor couldn’t wipe the smile from his dial after being named on the bench for tomorrow night’s Super Rugby Aotearoa final in Christchurch.
The Crusaders midfielder hasn’t played since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee during the North v South match last September, and wasn’t slated to return until the trans-Tasman competition.
However, he’s ahead of schedule, giving head coach Scott Robertson the luxury of injecting him into the decider against the Chiefs at Orangetheory Stadium.
“Pretty stoked to be out there. It’s been a long time. I was training fully for 5-6 weeks for a while, and it got to a point where I was begging for the physios to let me on the field,” Ennor said.
The 23-year-old played 30 minutes of club rugby for the University of Canterbury against Sumner a fortnight ago, and 60 more against Belfast last weekend, scoring a try in their comfortable 43-26 win.
Ennor replaces Manasa Mataele on the bench in the only change from the team which hammered the Blues 29-6 in Christchurch in their final regular season match.
“No,” Robertson said when asked if he considered starting Ennor at centre in place of Leicester Fainga’anuku, who shifted inside from the wing after Jack Goodhue tore his ACL last month.
“Leicester has been fantastic at centre, one of the form players in the comp ... the reason Braydon is going to come on to the bench is just to add that experience for us, and that depth required at the end of the game.”
Ennor knows a thing or two about rehabbing ACL injuries, given he blew out his left knee as an 18-year-old schoolboy in 2015.
As innocuous as the incident looked in Wellington last September, he knew he was in trouble the moment he hit the deck.
“I’ve done enough knee injuries that I know when the major one is. I did try and get up with one of the boys yelling at me on the field, but it didn’t feel right,” he said.
“It’s sort of like a pop and a lot of heat in the knee, and when you try and get up it’s sort of loose in the pocket.”
He was a member of the Crusaders Academy when he rehabbed his left knee, meaning he had the same physios this time round.
After canvassing a mostly predictable 23 for the final, the inclusion of rookie prop Tamaiti Williams on the pine over Isi Tuungafasi was the other talking point.
His only 13 minutes of Super Rugby were against the Blues last month, but the almost 140kg prop did enough to get the nod to back up loosehead prop George Bower, who will make a third straight start while Joe Moody recovers from foot surgery.
Unbeaten in all 24 previous home playoff games, including six finals, the Crusaders are chasing a fifth title in as many years under Robertson.
They haven’t lost to the Chiefs in Christchurch since a 27-21 defeat in 2016, and beat the Hamilton-based side 39-17 in the Garden City earlier this season.