Crusaders tai ho on Ennor
Braydon Ennor’s bid to be available for the Super Rugby Aotearoa final is on track after his encouraging return to the park at the weekend.
Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson will make a call after Ennor has a second hit out for the University of Canterbury on Saturday, a week out from the May 8 decider against the Chiefs in Christchurch.
In his first match since rupturing an ACL in the North v South match last October, the 23-year-old played the opening 30 minutes of his club’s 34-14 win against Sumner the past weekend.
Robertson was among the interested spectators at Ilam Fields in Christchurch, where Ennor flashed with his first few touches, setting up a try and showing the express pace he’s renowned for.
‘‘Thirty good minutes against my beloved Sumner, he had some great minutes and put them up pretty quickly. But he has still got another club game, and off the back of that we’ll see if he’s available for the final,’’ Robertson said.
‘‘Really proud of him, it’s hard, he’s done one knee, does the other. He’s an express machine, he’s some athlete. Just relieved for him. First couple of touches he set up a try, made a line break. Special athlete, I’m really pleased for him.’’
Ennor’s comeback will continue with a hit out against Belfast on Saturday, the same day the Crusaders regroup ahead of the final. Robertson typically gives his side until the Monday morning off after bye weeks, but the final Saturday week is cause for change.
‘‘We’ll have a bit of a run round as a group, just to make sure we stay connected, because it’s a Sunday to Saturday, we’ll get a day ahead, a step ahead,’’ Robertson said.
They’re aided by not having to wait a week to find out their opponents, given their comprehensive 29-6 win against the Blues on Sunday ensured the second-placed Chiefs can’t be surpassed on tiebreakers during the final round of the regular season. Bye weeks haven’t been overly kind to teams this season, with the Crusaders among those who have stumbled back out of the gates and been rolled.
Captain Scott Barrett made it clear they won’t be kicking back and relaxing as they plot to win a fifth-straight title, and 12th overall. ‘‘I think we look back at our last bye week and probably still had a palm tree over our head and rocked into that Highlanders week and got shown up on our home pitch. We’re not going to be putting our feet up.’’ The Crusaders have won all previous 24 playoff games in Christchurch, including six finals, most recently in 2018 and 2019.
They’ll head into the home final on the back of what was comfortably their best performance since their round five bye, righting some wrongs in front of a packed Orangetheory Stadium.
Scoring four tries was one thing, but limiting the Blues to a couple of penalty goals was another, as were the performances from Will Jordan, Sevu Reece, Richie Mo’unga and Sam Whitelock, to name a handful.
‘‘It’s very satisfying. There’s probably been a few questions asked of us from the outside, and from the inside, to be honest. To get a result like that in front of our people is exactly what we wanted,’’ halfbackmitchell Drummond said.