Ennor times return for final
All Black Braydon Ennor will return from a serious knee injury in tomorrow night’s Super Rugby Aotearoa final in Christchurch.
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson has named the 23-year-old midfielder, who can also play on the wing, on his bench for the decider against the Chiefs at Orangetheory Stadium.
Ennor hasn’t played at the top level since rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee during the North v South match last October.
Originally not slated to return until the trans-Tasman competition, starting next weekend, he’s been in a race against time to be declared fit for the final.
He played 30 minutes of club rugby for the University of Canterbury against Sumner a fortnight ago, and 60 more against Belfast last weekend, scoring a try in their comfortable 43-26 win.
Ennor replaces Manasa Mataele on the bench in the only change from the team which hammered the Blues 29-6 in Christchurch in their final regular season match.
The return of the one-test All Black is timely for the red and blacks, who lost fellow All Blacks midfielder Jack Goodhue to a torn ACL last month.
‘‘There were three coaches out there watching him. He played
well, he looked dynamic. Used his feet well, defended well,’’ assistant coach Scott Hansen said earlier this week, when he declared him available for selection.
The impressive Leicester Fainga’anuku, who moved from the wing to centre when Goodhue’s season came to a halt, will again start in the No 13 jersey which Ennor made his own last year.
Having impressed forwards coach Jason Ryan during his debut against the Blues last month, rookie loosehead prop
Tamaiti Williams has also done enough to edge Isi Tuungafasi for a spot on the bench.
Unbeaten in all 24 previous home playoff games, including six finals, the Crusaders are chasing a fifth title in as many years under Robertson.
They haven’t lost to the Chiefs in Christchurch since a 27-21 defeat in 2016, and beat the Hamilton-based side 39-17 in the Garden City earlier this season.
However, the Chiefs rattled off five straight wins, including a 26-25 thriller over the Crusaders in Hamilton, after that defeat to
qualify for the final.
Meanwhile, Pita Gus Sowakula’s red-hot recent form has forced Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan into a forward pack reshuffle for the final.
The explosive Fijian loose forward missed the early stages of the season with a knee injury and got back into his work with three appearances from the bench, then has then been a standout the past fortnight in his two starts at No 8 while Luke Jacobson sat out with concussion.
And that has proved too good for McMillan to ignore for the decider against the Crusaders. Despite two-test All Black Jacobson returning to the back of the scrum, Sowakula has been handed a start at blindside flanker – just his second time in the Chiefs’ No 6 jersey in what will be his 34th appearance.