Crusaders' apprentices head south
New Crusaders captain Matt Todd will lead a very inexperienced team south to Timaru to take on the Highlanders in the first pre-season outing on Saturday.
The team to play in this port city in the southern Canterbury region of New Zealand is made up of current squad members, wider training group members and some players who have been involved in the pre-season as part of the Crusaders apprenticeship system.
The game will be played in four quarters with rolling substitutions.
None of the Crusaders' frontline All Blacks – Dan Carter, Wyatt Crockett, Israel Dagg, Owen Franks, Owen Franks, Richie McCaw, Luke Romano, Colin Slade or Kieran Read – will feature in the match.
They will be slowly re-introduced as the season approaches.
Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock won't return to the Crusaders until round five – after exercising their mini-sabbatical clauses – and Israel Dagg will miss the first game against the Melbourne Rebels.
The remainder of the team's All Blacks – including Carter – will be on deck from Round One.
Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder said the players are itching to get out on the field and play some rugby.
"The pre-season is starting to feel long to the players by about now," Blackadder said.
"They've been pushed to their limits by trainers and coaches since before Christmas and now they're just really looking forward to playing some actual rugby.
"For us, this is going to be a really useful opportunity to see how the players fare under some game pressure and to learn about what our key work-ons should be for the remainder of the pre-season," Blackadder added.
The Crusaders will play two other pre-season games – against the Hurricanes in Eketahuna on January 31 and the Reds in Brisbane on February 6.
Crusaders: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Jone Macalai, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Nathaniel Apa, 11 Nafi Tuitavake, 10 Richie Mo'unga, 9 Mitchell Drummond, 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Matt Todd (captain), 6 Tom Sanders, 5 Jimmy Tupou, 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Alex Hodgman.
Replacements – from: Ben Funnell, Daniel Lienert-Brown, Sione Faletau, Dominic Bird, Jordan Taufua, Billy Guyton, Robbie Fruean, Ged Robinson, Rob Thompson, Reed Prinsep, George Bridges, Michael Green, Willi Heinz, Milford Keresoma, Luke Romano, Jed Brown, Luteru Laulala.
Date: Saturday, January 24
Venue: Alpine Energy Stadium, Timaru
Kick-off: 14.30 (01.30 GMT)
Referees: Nick Briant, Jamie Nutbrown
