So, just what is the secret behind the incredible Crusaders’ success?

YOU don’t have to be a “one-eyed Cantabrian”, as Crusaders supporters are derided in New Zealand, to put the rent money on a ninth Super Rugby title for the Christchurch team, which again leaves us wondering just how this black-and-red juggernaut keeps rampaging on.

Difficult as it might be to believe, the Crusaders came stone last in the first Super 12 competition back in 1996; they improved in 1997 but did not make the play-offs, and then captured their first title in 1998 and, well, we know the rest...

There have been 22 Super Rugby finals and the Crusaders have featured in 12 of them, triumphing in eight, to go with five appearances in semi-finals; they are the only team to win a final on foreign soil... And so the records stretch ever on...

There have been more than a few studies on the secret of the Crusaders’ success and among the ingredients identified are painstaking preparation, selfless commitment, 110 percent work ethic, self-sacrifice for the good of the team, honour and respect for those who wore the jersey before you; in other words, the essentials for a watertight team culture.

This tight-knit family affair at the Crusaders was never better reflected than in 2011 when the earthquake that struck Christchurch meant they had the enormous stress of playing every single game away from home, one of which was in London. They clocked up just over 100,000km in air travel and still made the final, falling at the last hurdle to the Reds in Brisbane. That was a miraculous, not to mention remarkable, achievement.

But there is another vital reason the Crusaders have been so strong for so long and it sadly contrasts with the single biggest problem South African franchises face in achieving and sustaining excellence.

We are talking about the nucleus of experienced players and coaches that roll seamlessly through one Crusaders era after another so that the culture of excellence is never disturbed and the changes in personnel are imperceptible because experienced like is replaced by emerging like. There is a baton change at coaching and playing level that is so slick it is barely noticeable.

Quite often over the last two decades, senior Crusaders players themselves have taken up the coaching reins, thus ensuring the team culture is not distressed.

Going back to the first decade or so of the Crusaders, the coaching staff compromised former Canterbury players Richard Loe, Steve Hansen, Robbie Deans and Wayne Smith. Do those names ring a bell...? Then there have been former Crusaders players at the helm in Mark Hammett, Todd Blackadder and currently, Scott Robertson.

They like to keep it in-house, it seems. And those coaches have been meticulous in maintaining the structures that ensure that their successors are never starting from scratch with a brand new squad.

This is something that South African rugby struggles to get right, mostly because quality coaches are thin on the ground, and definitely because so many players reach their maturity not in South Africa but in the UK and Europe.

From the onset of professional rugby in 1996, the Rand has had no price against the pound and the Euro and this has meant an annual exodus of epidemic proportions, and the players who go are at an increasingly younger age; some go straight from Craven Week.

The result is that the old raft of senior players who teach our youngsters the ropes are no longer there. I recall John Smit speaking of how wide-eyed he was when he joined the Sharks from Pretoria Boys High to do an apprenticeship under what he called the “rock stars”, the likes of Gary Teichmann, Henry Honiball, Dick Muir, Adrian Garvey, Mark Andrews, James Small, Andre Joubert

Sadly, this does not happen anymore. Players go overseas to make a good living while they are still young instead of going at the end of their careers for a golden handshake.

It is why the CEOs of our franchises will tell you that they battle to nail a player down for a contract longer than two years. Players want to keep their options open. And these short-term contacts make it difficult to keep a team together for the five years or so you need to build championship credentials.

A prime example of this is when the Bulls’ glory era under Victor Matfield came to an end with the mass retirements/defections overseas of Fourie du Preez, Bryan Habana, Morne Steyn, Bakkies Botha, Matfield and Danie Rossouw. The Bulls were emasculated and some will say they have never recovered

New Zealand does not have this problem for reasons including a stronger currency and the massive pull of the All Blacks; only players based at home qualify for selection.

Thus we have a roll of honour at the Crusaders that keeps pace with Father Time in going on and on... Andrew Mehrtens, Justin Marshall, Reuben Thorne, Leon MacDonald, Caleb Ralph, Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Aaron Mauger, Chris Jack, Greg Somerville, Daryl Gibson, Rico Gear... through to the latest group of household names (there were 12 All Blacks in the match 23 that played the Sharks last week).

And this is why the Crusade continues...