By Ian Ransom
HT Picture
MELBOURNE, – The Canterbury Crusaders’ revival can be put to the check at Eden Park on Saturday once they face an Auckland Blues aspect determined to shore up their Tremendous Rugby Pacific title defence.
The Crusaders managed solely 4 wins final yr in Rob Penney’s first time period in cost, a spectacular fall after claiming the 2023 title underneath Scott Robertson.
However the South Island staff now discover themselves second with a 3-1 successful file heading into the sixth spherical and with hope of a fast return to the play-offs.
The Crusaders wins have all come at house, although, having did not win an away recreation since beating the Chiefs for the 2023 title in Hamilton.
“It’s not the elephant in the room. We’re talking about it. Awareness is high in regards to our lack of ability to win away,” Penney mentioned this week.
“We’ve gone close a couple of times. All you can do is prepare as well as you can and the boys will do that job in the final few hours and hopefully it doesn’t make a difference.”
Penney raised eyebrows by demoting winger Macca Springer to the bench after he turned the second participant to attain 5 tries in Tremendous Rugby together with his quintet towards Western Pressure.
Springer makes method for the return of Chay Fihaki from harm.
The Crusaders might recognise one thing of themselves within the Blues as Vern Cotter’s aspect battle by means of a championship hangover with an extended harm checklist.
Ninth on the desk with 4 losses and a solitary win over the Wellington Hurricanes, the Blues are lacking playmaker Beauden Barrett with a hand downside, whereas captain Patrick Tuipulotu went down injured at coaching on Thursday.
Regardless of the setbacks, the Blues had been gallant in one-point defeats to the ACT Brumbies and Waikato Chiefs of their final matches.
“We just haven’t had the rub of the green. We can’t catch a break. That’s the feeling inside,” mentioned Cotter.
“But we don’t sit on it, we can’t. We have to acknowledge it and try to become better.”
The New South Wales Waratahs might really feel the identical method as they await the fourth-placed ACT Brumbies, having misplaced their final 13 matches to the Canberra staff.
Waratahs coach Dan McKellar had a hand in lots of these outcomes as Brumbies boss from 2018-22.
“I spent many years in that camp, but now I’m here, and I’m driven and energised to do all I can to turn things around,” he mentioned.
Profitable three house video games to begin the season, the Waratahs found their first journey away, shedding 35-15 to the Queensland Reds to fall again to fifth.
One other actuality verify could also be in retailer towards a Brumbies staff bolstered by the return of Wallabies enforcer Rob Valetini.
Just like the Waratahs, the third-placed Reds have a poor file to beat once they journey to the Otago Highlanders for a Saturday afternoon conflict.
The Reds haven’t received in Dunedin since 2013 and barely get pleasure from their journeys to New Zealand’s South Island.
They had been thumped 43-19 by the Crusaders on their final go to two weeks in the past.
The Chiefs will hope to cement their place on the prime of the desk once they head north to Pukekohe on Friday to kick off the spherical towards bottom-placed Moana Pasifika, a staff they’ve crushed in all 5 earlier matches.
Fijian Drua shut the spherical with a long-haul flight to Perth the place they’ll seek for their second win of the season towards Western Pressure on Sunday.