“We are 5-1, so we re in a good position,” head coach Robertson said when asked to sum up where his team is at, and if they’re still progressing. “It’s never going to be all smooth, there is going to be a bit of chaos in there, you re going to have a few injuries, you’re going to be down, you’re going to get some calls from the refs and you’re not. That’s just part of it.” The Crusaders, who are expected to provide updates on Moody and Goodhue on Tuesday morning, certainly had hiccups on their way to each title won the past four years, including back-to-back defeats in 2018, and a bad loss to the Waratahs, and draws against the Stormers and Sharks, in 2019.
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1. CRUSADERS (3-0) PREVIOUS RANKING: 1 Replacing either Leicester Fainga’anuku or Sevu Reece on the wing will take some call, given the outstanding start the aforementioned duo have made to the season.
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The Blues were far too good for the Highlanders in Auckland on Sunday. And what about All Blacks centre Braydon Ennor, who is set to return from a knee injury for either the Australian component of Super Rugby, or the third round of SRA? To think the reigning champions have mustered 14 out of a possible 15 competition points without them, and hooker Andrew Makalio (neck) and flanker Tom Sanders (cheek), playing a single minute.
Bay of Plenty rake Nathan Vella, who played 33 games for Canterbury between 2016-18, has joined the reigning champions for the rest of the year as a replacement. Makalio’s loss is a significant blow for the red and blacks, who no longer have the luxury of injecting the punishing runner and silky-skilled rake into the mix against ailing defences.
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Nathan Vella, left, has joined the Crusaders as injury cover for the remainder of the season. Canterbury hooker Brodie McAlister will go into the season as All Black Codie Taylor’s primary backup, although he’s only been capped four times.