All Black re-signs to 2023
Braydon Ennor was nursing a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament when he first spied a scary Scott Robertson from the corner of his eye.
One-test All Black Ennor, who announced on Tuesday he has resigned with NZ Rugby and the Crusaders through to 2023, recalled the first time he encountered Robertson and listened to him deliver a meaningful sermon almost five years ago.
‘‘He can be quite an intimidating character if you don’t know him,’’ Ennor, 22, said.
‘‘I had just come down to Christchurch and was rehabbing a knee because I had a torn ACL at the time. He just comes up to me and points to me and goes ‘you and Jack [Goodhue] in the midfield – it will happen’.
‘‘I was like ‘oh, good’. That was back in 2015, I think.’’
Robertson, the Canterbury coach at the time, wasn’t blasting hot air for the sake of it. The Goodhue-Ennor partnership is now a reality.
This year Crusaders coach Robertson shifted the latter from the wing to utilise him as one of his preferred weapons in the midfield before Super Rugby was shut down because of Covid-19.
Ennor, who injured a knee while playing for Auckland’s St Kentigern College first XV in 2015, wasn’t ignored by the Blues – an organisation much maligned for allowing local talent to slip away.
The Blues did their best to convince him to stay in his home city, but the Crusaders talent scouts had done their due diligence and hoovered-up the talented outside back.
Rather than see Ennor as damaged goods, the Crusaders supported him during his ninemonth rehabilitation to fix his knee; they encouraged him to stick to his first-year studies for a commerce degree at the University of Canterbury, and he remained in the Crusaders academy system.
Robertson might have intimidated Ennor when they first met, but he helped create a path that led to him making his test debut for the All Blacks against Argentina in Buenos Aires last year.
It was Robertson who awarded Ennor his first start for the Crusaders in 2018, and surrounded him with seasoned All Blacks prior to nudging him into his preferred spot at centre.
Ennor replaced Jordie Barrett on the left wing in his only test appearance, against the Pumas, and was close to making the
World Cup squad for Japan.
His chances of making the squad for the World Cup in France in 2023 should, body permitting, be much greater.
The immediate goal will be to convince All Blacks selectors Ian Foster and Grant Fox he deserves to be picked – if the test programme against Australia is approved – for fixtures later this year.
Ennor said he never considered chasing the money overseas. It was an easy decision to resign, joining Crusaders captain Scott Barrett who last week also extended his deal with NZ Rugby and the 10-times Super Rugby champions through to the next global tournament.
Meanwhile, Robertson welcomed the decision to introduce the NRL-style ‘‘golden point’’ system to decide drawn games in the 10-week Super Rugby Aotearoa competition which starts June 13.
Last year the Crusaders drew two games, against the Sharks in Christchurch and the Stormers in Cape Town.
‘‘If there are a number of draws it could disadvantage a team quite heavily, and it’s a bit of excitement. It’s something new,’’ Robertson said.
‘‘It’s a brutal competition, so an extra 10 minutes is going to be more entertaining for everyone. It’s going to test your mental fortitude as well as the depth of your squad.
‘‘Yep, great call.’’