It feels a bit mean to enjoy the Crusader’s pain so much; but heck - they won 7 in a row so they’ve had plenty of joy in seasons past.
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So why are the 'canes doing so well?
The simple answer might be cohesion; they haven’t lost too many players that are as hard to replace as the Crusaders have. Really only Ardie Savea - and in a way that’s as much of a blessing as a curse because they’ve got 3 players all of whom can play No 8 as well (Devan Flanders, Brayden Iose and Peter Lakai) and when Du’Plessis Kirifi is fit they have a really well balanced loose trio.
They just look like a team with great cohesion at the moment and that’s without some good midfielders - Bailyn Sullivan & to a lesser extent Peter Umaga-Jensen but with Billy Proctor & Jordie Barrett as starters they’re able to manage those injuries quite well.
On top of that, they look really fit, which as a generalisation you’d assume comes from having a former 7s coach as the new head coach, and I think their lineout is looking well coached at the moment thanks to Bryn Evans joining the coaching group this year too.
Of the 5 kiwi teams probably only the Chiefs are looking quite as stable, but i’d say they’re missing the influence of Retallick & Weber more than the Hurricanes would be missing Savea.
Actually, I feel a bit sorry for the new coaching setup there; they’ve had a horrible run with injury and loss of players to overseas. The team for the game against the Blues last night only had 1 player from last year’s final in it.
One thing I wonder about that not many people are mentioning is the Crusader’s policy of playing non-NZ qualified international players over the years at the expense of giving game time to some of their younger and backup players.
That, coupled with poorly timed injuries for folks that would have been taking the position - eg Berkus Ferg for Mounga has meant they’ve tried 3 different 1st 5/8 so far this season. Rivez Reihana has had some Super experience with the Chiefs, but they lost him to injury late in the first game.
Then they tried Taha Kemara who’s barely played a dozen matches at NPC level over two years and with the Crusader’s forward pack misfiring looked every bit the inexperienced playmaker he is. The last two matches they’ve gone with Riley Hohepa who’s got 4 years of NPC behind him and a couple of appearances for the Horrorcanes last year and just looks a bit calmer and more assured if not especially flashy.
But so many of their players are looking average so far this season. Havili & Grace were awesome last year but just look off the pace this year. Levi Aumua was massively dangerous playing for Moana Pasifika who would get him the ball as much as possible - yet the Crusaders can barely get the ball past Havili to him 3-4 times a game.
But even the best teams are going to struggle when they’re missing names like this: Cody Taylor, Sam Whitelock, Ethan Blackadder, Scott Barrett, Tamaiti Williams, Richie Mounga, Will Jordan, Braydon Ennor, Fergus Burke (Mounga’s backup), Leigh Halfpenny (Jordan’s backup), Brodie McAlister (Taylor’s backup).
There are some bright spots though - Fletcher Newell has been pretty good, Sevu Reece continues to be industrious. I think realistically when Reihana went down injured Havili should have moved into 10, Dallas McLeod starting at 12, with Aumua outside him and a focus on a much simpler game plan than they’ve shown so far.