Cruden benched for opener
Former All Black Aaron Cruden’s return to Super Rugby will be by way of the bench, with a rookie instead thrown the role of first five-eighth for the Chiefs’ seasonopener against the Blues in Auckland tomorrow night.
New coach Warren Gatland sprung a surprise in his team naming yesterday, opting for uncapped Bay of Plenty playmaker Kaleb Trask at No 10 for the clash at Eden Park.
Cruden, who has returned from France to make a oneseason cameo for his former club before heading to Japan, is part of a stacked Chiefs bench featuring four other All Blacks in props Atu Moli and Angus Ta’avao, halfback Brad Weber and midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown.
The tactic is somewhat of a forced hand, as the Kiwi Super coaches are directed by New Zealand Rugby to ease their All Blacks back from their off-season with no more than 180 minutes play in the opening three rounds, along with a gradual build in loads, with Gatland saying he would be aiming to stick to 40 minutes in round one.
Although those restrictions don’t apply to Cruden, Gatland said the decision not to start him was also about easing him back in. The 50-test former international, who left after the 2017 season to join Montpellier, joined up with the squad early this month, but didn’t play any preseason because he was awaiting insurance sign-off.
‘‘I have to stress, it’s really about looking at the balance of the squad,’’ Gatland said. ‘‘Aaron Cruden hasn’t had any time with us at the moment, his insurance has just come through so he’s available to play, so we’ve got to look at the balance of those guys having 40 minutes, who’s going to come off the bench and replace them.
‘‘It’s a great opportunity for Kaleb to start. We’re not trying to put him under any pressure, just enjoy the occasion.’’
Trask, 20, beat out a slightly more experienced Tiaan Falcon, who debuted in 2018, then missed last season with an Achilles rupture.
Damian McKenzie was another option, of course, though Gatland felt that in his first competitive outing since rupturing the ACL in his knee last year, and also being on All Blacks restricted minutes, fullback would be best for him to get his confidence up, with more time and space on offer.
Joining Trask on debut is centre Quinn Tupaea – the 20-yearold having been a standout for Waikato over the last couple of years and being unlucky to miss out on a Super contract last season – and Wellington lock Naitoa Ah Kuoi, who is on the bench.
Sam Cane will captain the side in a more unaccustomed spot of No 8, which Gatland said was a little bit about playing two fetchers, but also reward for how much Mitchell Karpik had impressed in the pre-season.
Prop Reuben O’Neill, locks Michael Allardice and Laghlan McWhannell, loose forward Luke Jacobson and midfielder Tumua Manu were all unavailable due to injury, but Gatland said none of
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Conversely, the Chiefs announced yesterday that hooker Nathan Harris had been ruled out of the 2020 season.
The former All Black had been recovering from a fractured ankle sustained during the Mitre 10 Cup with Bay of Plenty last year but following shoulder pain, underwent surgery this month to repair his rotator cuff.
The rehabilitation period for that is six months, so the 27-yearold has been replaced in the squad by Donald Maka, who has been training with the Chiefs as a replacement player during the pre-season.