Ankle injury rules Moody out of derby clash

The good news is All Black Joe Moody’s ankle injury isn’t considered serious enough to sideline him for a considerable amount of time.

However, the Crusaders’ firstchoice loosehead prop will at least miss Saturday night’s South Island derby against the Highlanders in Dunedin.

Moody sustained a sprained ankle in the opening minutes of his team’s hefty home win against the Chiefs last Saturday night.

‘‘It’s probably something that is a week, something to work through with the medical staff. He’s a lot better today than he was yesterday,’’ Crusaders assistant coach Brad Mooar said.

Moody’s injury leaves the Crusaders’ top two loosehead props sidelined. All Black Tim Perry broke an arm against the Blues in round one and could miss the entire regular season.

Harry Allan played 73 minutes in Moody’s absence last weekend, and the 20-year-old will don the No 1 jersey at Forsyth Barr Stadium. Just who will back him up will be decided before the team is named on Thursday and, despite being thin on loosehead props, Mooar indicated they will stick with the bodies they’ve got.

In addition to Allan, that leaves Owen Franks, Michael Alaalatoa, George Bower, Isileli Tu’ungagasi and Oliver Jager, although Jager (shoulder) isn’t expected to be available for at least four weeks.

‘‘We’ve got some good props in there,’’ Mooar said. ‘‘We will be really happy with whatever group . . . some of those guys can play both sides, and we’ll work through that during the week.’’

Captain Sam Whitelock, available for the first time this season after an extended break, was spotted laying into some tackling bags at Christchurch’s Rugby Park.

But Mooar was non-committal when asked if he would play, or if there was a temptation to give him an extra week off.

‘‘Probably not a lot,’’ Mooar said. ‘‘He’s jumping through his bridle and being a real pest at training, so I think he probably needs to get out there and exert a bit of energy.’’

One area the Crusaders didn’t get right in their 57-28 romp against the Chiefs was their scrum, which was shunted backwards on numerous occasions after Moody limped off.

The Crusaders also conceded free kicks and penalties from it as the Chiefs applied the blow torch, and you can imagine Highlanders scrum coach Clarke Dermody took note.

Tighthead prop Alaalatoa, who started and scored a try in place of the rested Franks, said it had been addressed.

‘‘We reviewed it today and it was just a couple of things with our scrum structure which we didn’t quite nail. We’ve got a good plan in place for this week to rectify that.’’

The Highlanders, the last team to beat the Crusaders (March 17, 2018), are coming off consecutive losses, but coach Aaron Mauger’s focus on increased size and physicality up front this year is clear for all to see.

Mooar noted it when reviewing their narrow loss to the Hurricanes last week, while Alaalatoa sensed it during a preseason fixture between the teams in Southbridge last month.

‘‘We’ve obviously been doing a bit of homework on them. It’s what we’re expecting this weekend. A big physical battle up front, but we’re looking forward to that,’’ Alaalatoa said