Injury rules Taylor out of Drua clash
Hooker Codie Taylor has been ruled out of the Crusaders’ match against the Fijian Drua in Christchurch on Friday night.
The All Black suffered a rib cartilage sprain in the first half of the 37-26 win over the Brumbies in Canberra last weekend, and was replaced by Ricky Jackson at halftime.
The Crusaders have confirmed Taylor doesn’t require scans, and was making satisfactory progress during the recovery phase, but will be scratched from the fixture against the Drua at Orangetheory Stadium. It’s uncertain whether Taylor will be fit to play the final round-robin game against the Queensland Reds in Christchurch on May 27.
The Crusaders, who are third on the Super Rugby Pacific log behind the Blues and the Brumbies, are set to host a quarterfinal on June 4.
Coach Scott Robertson will aim for the Crusaders to secure a bonus-point win over the Drua to ensure they give themselves every chance of leap-frogging over the Brumbies, who also sit on 43 points on the competition table but are second courtesy of a superior winloss record. The top-placed Blues sit on 50 points, and are unlikely to be overtaken.
While Robertson won’t be short of players to start in the No 2 jersey during Taylor’s absence, he will be hoping the experienced test rake is fit for the playoffs.
If Jackson starts against the Drua, Robertson can call upon George Bell, who has yet to play NPC rugby but was a surprise selection to come off the bench against the Force in Perth on May 7, Shilo Klein or Brodie McAlister to sit in the reserves.
Robertson is also likely to make at least one more change to the front row, with loosehead prop George Bower expected to be rested as part of the All Blacks’ rotation policy.
Meanwhile, the Canterbury Rugby Football Union is edging closer to confirming a Canterbury men’s head coach following a long drawn-out process to find replacements for Reuben Thorne and Mark Brown after the pair finished-up at the end of last season. It’s understood assistant Marty Bourke, who worked as an assistant to co-coaches Thorne and Brown last year, has emerged as a frontrunner.
Bourke, who previously worked as an attack coach at Bay of Plenty and has been involved with Rugby New York in the United States, signed a two-year deal with the Canterbury Rugby Football Union last year.
It’s also understood the CRFU, having earlier sounded out Mark Hammett about taking on the role, held discussions with another exCrusaders hooker in Matt Sexton.
Sexton, who was the head coach of the Southern Kings in South Africa in 2012 and 2013, has remained in his position as a high performance player development role with NZ Rugby.
Meanwhile, the CRFU has resigned front row forwards Oli Jager (2024), Fletcher Newell (2023), Tamaiti Williams (2022) and McAlister (2025). All have also represented the Crusaders. Irishman Jager, who made his debut for Canterbury in 2016, is the most experienced of the quartet and has played 41 games for the province.