Set-piece the focus for Crusaders in showdown with Force
The Crusaders’ legacy is a major motivating factor, but hooker Brodie McAlister knows the importance of the set-piece for today’s Super Rugby Pacific cellar dwellers’ battle in Perth.
It’s 11 versus 12 at HBF Park where the bottom-of-the-log Force and defending champions Crusaders are both targeting their second win of a disappointing season.
McAlister will make his first start after returning off the bench from a long injury break in last week’s after-the-buzzer loss to the Waratahs in Sydney.
He replaces rookie rake George Bell in a rejigged front row, alongside veteran ex-All Blacks props Joe Moody and Owen Franks.
Rob Penney’s pack reshuffle smacks as more of an opportunity to rest Bell and All Black bookends Fletcher Newell and George Bell after hectic workloads rather than a wholesale dropping.
But it represents an opportunity for McAlister to make his mark, especially at the lineout where the Crusaders have had their frustrations this season.
The 26-year-old said that while the loss to the Waratahs was “gut-wrenching’’, he was relieved to be back for his first game since he tore a hamstring in the 2023 semifinal.
The hamstring setback was the worst injury of his career, he said. “It took me a bit of time [to get over] and I’ve still got to stay on top of it. The physios say it takes a good year to get it back to full strength. I’m glad I’m not a winger.’’
But after working hard in the summer, McAlister seemed set to start the season as No 1, with All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor on sabbatical.
Then, the All Blacks XV rep suffered a second setback when he dislocated a knee in the final pre-season game.
He said that was hugely frustrating but he had to quickly “put the injury aside’’ and help “the young boys’’, Bell and Ioane Moananu, get to grips with Super Rugby. “You have to be a team player.’’
While it had been “pretty tough sitting on the sideline’’ watching the Crusaders lose their first five matches, McAlister is still confident of a stronger finish.
He described the set-piece as “the gate to our game’’ and said it was critical to ”do the right stuff during the week“, talking with his locks and making sure there was an alternative way to set up a call if crowd noise became a problem again.
Heat could certainly be a factor. McAlister said Perth felt as hot as Fiji this week, and the Crusaders held a training session in the middle of the day to adjust to the sapping conditions.
The Crusaders haven’t always had it easy in Perth. They scraped a 23-23 draw in 2006, and have had three wins and two losses there. This Western Australian side, however, may not be the Force of old, but they have bolstered their backline by naming Kurtley Beale at fullback to join Wallabies halfback Nic White.
The Crusaders will face two familiar faces in starting No 8 Reed Prinsep, a former Canterbury captain, and ex-Crusaders and Canterbury hooker Ben Funnell.