Lock ‘devastated’ by injury
A broken bone in Quinten Strange’s right-hand means the Crusaders’ lock will have to be patient for an opportunity to fill the void left by All Black Sam Whitelock.
Strange busted his hand early on in last Friday’s 41-7 pre-season rout of the Highlanders in Wanaka, is expected to be out for up to five weeks.
The 23-year-old was expected to start in the second row alongside new captain Scott Barrett at Nelson’s Trafalgar Park on Saturday night, when the reigning champions kickoff the new season against the Waratahs.
‘‘Really gutted for him, especially heading into this game at home. Nelson College, Collingwood lad. He was devastated,’’ Crusaders assistant coach Andrew Goodman said after training in Christchurch yesterday.
A year after Strange battled multiple injuries in the second half of the season, the lock’s frustration is particularly understandable given the opportunity in front of him with Whitelock sitting out the season while on a playing sabbatical in Japan.
Mitchell Dunshea, who started last year’s final in place of the injured Barrett, or veteran Luke Romano are the frontrunners to start alongside Barrett, while rookie Cullen Grace is another option.
Outside Strange and flankers
Billy Harmon (knee) and Ethan Blackadder (shoulder), Goodman confirmed the remainder of the squad, including the team’s eight All Blacks, were available for selection.
However, when head coach Scott Robertson makes his first team of 2020 public tomorrow afternoon, chances are not all his All Blacks will be thrust into the starting side. ‘‘We’re going to have to use that wisely in the next couple of weeks,’’ Goodman said of how the team will juggle their reintroduction.
While centre Braydon Ennor, who did not feature at the World Cup, completed his return to play minutes in the pre-season, the team’s other representatives are limited to 180-minutes across the first three rounds. Coaches are instructed to build the load by, if possible, starting with 40 minutes in round one, then 60, and 80.
All Black Jack Goodhue, predominantly a centre, was training at second-five eighth yesterday and is expected to run out in the starting side alongside Ennor as the post-Ryan Crotty era begins.
‘‘He’ll be a big link for us in that 12-13 role with [Crotty’s] experience gone, and maybe looking to use Braydon more at 13 this year,’’ Goodman said.
Restricted minutes for All Black wings George Bridge and Sevu Reece need not grate Crusaders fans, given the team can call upon Manasa Mataele, Will Jordan and Leicester Faingaanuku, who scored two tries in a eye-popping performance against the Highlanders last week.
Jordan, who trained on the right-wing yesterday, also shone in the pre-season and has been busy honing his craft under the team’s new assistant coach, Welshman Mark Jones.
‘‘I’ve particularly enjoyed working with Mark, who’s come from a back-three background in the northern hemisphere and just some of his different ideas around position play and work under the high ball,’’ Jordan said.
Goodman, having coached Tasman to the Mitre 10 Cup title last year and replaced Ronan O’Gara as the team’s backs coach, said the topic of how the team would juggle their backline stocks had been a hot topic among the coaching staff.
‘‘I’m loving it. I’ve got a pretty exciting bunch of young backs. I was lucky enough to work alongside and see what Rog [O’Gara] has done over the last couple of years, so we’re just trying to grow that because it’s all about getting better as a unit,’’ he said.
The Crusaders said yesterday their 2020 home and away kits would feature the team’s new Tohu logo, which the team unveiled last month after concluding their brand review.
At the time, the Crusaders said they would play under a ‘‘holding brand’’ this year, with the playing jersey only featuring the ‘‘Crusaders’’ wordmark.