Chiefs shut down Cruden's injury concerns

REACTION: The Chiefs aren’t worried about Aaron Cruden’s recent injury history in the wake of his return to the Hamilton franchise.

Cruden will return to Super Rugby next year with the club he won two titles with over a six-year span after spending two seasons in France with Top 14 outfit Montpellier.

During his time in Europe, though, the 30-year-old playmaker sustained a prolonged injury run, with a troublesome calf proving to be particularly prone to keeping him sidelined.

However, Chiefs CEO Michael Collins told Stuff that the side has full faith in Cruden’s ability to stay injury free throughout his one-year deal.

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“We’ve spoken to Aaron and watched some of his games, and a couple of the injuries he did suffer in France were contact injuries and we always knew he was going to come right,” Collins said.

“But the driver for us was he has such a history with the Chiefs, he’s a world-class flyhalf , we’ve got some really good young backs coming through and we thought his recruitment would serve two purposes – to help drive the team round the field, and also to be an older voice and someone for those younger players to learn off.

“We know that he’s going to come in fit and healthy, so we thought it’d be better to get his family settled, focus on that, then join the team after the Christmas break.”

The 50-cap All Black, who played his last test for New Zealand in the drawn test against the British and Irish Lions in Auckland two years ago, will link up with the Chiefs in January.

The Chiefs will kick-off their 2020 Super Rugby campaign against the Blues at Eden Park on January 31.

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