Crumbling Crusaders: 'I reckon they need to have a mini emergency meeting'

The Crusaders flew to Fiji to square off with a winless Drua while hoping to avoid a hat trick of losses themselves to start the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season. That losing streak was indeed extended in a round of results that flipped standings across the competition’s table.

The other two losses came against the Chiefs and Waratahs, teams that like the Drua, have claimed wins over the Crusaders in the two recent Super Rugby seasons, only for the then Scott Robertson-led side to prevail at the business end of the campaign.

This year is of course different though, without Robertson at the helm and major departures and absences reshaping the Canterbury team.

Rob Penney is now leading a rejigged coaching setup for a campaign that won’t feature names like Richie Mo’unga, Sam Whitelock, Leicester Fainga’anuku, and Will Jordan. While we’re also yet to see Codie Taylor, Ethan Blackadder, Fergus Burke or Braydon Ennor.

Still, the team persevered through injuries to nine All Blacks en route to a 2023 title and lost seven games in a row back in 1998 only to lift the trophy at the season’s end.

Former All Black Sir John Kirwan lent his perspective to the debate over how much trouble the Crusaders are in following the loss.

“I reckon there is a little bit of a crisis if I can have my two cents worth,” Kirwan told The Breakdown. “I have never seen them like this.

“In Melbourne, they were really inaccurate, stuff I’m not used to seeing. When I talked about the Reds being accurate, there were little things they weren’t doing, they were missing cleanouts, there was just some stuff that I reckon they need to have a mini emergency meeting about this week.”

That sentiment of more short-term concerns was echoed by Kirwan’s co-panellist and fellow former All Black, Jeff Wilson, who had previously picked the Crusaders as favourites for the 2024 season.

“There’s no doubt they’re in trouble,” Wilson started. “At the start of the season, before we’d even begun, I looked at their squad, I looked at what they had. If you have already looked at who hasn’t played and who’s not going to be there, and that was before the news that Will Jordan was going to be out for the season, so their most dangerous and influential back is now out of the picture, not going to play. It looks like he’s going to miss the early games for the All Blacks too. He’s gone.

“No Codie Taylor; doesn’t look as though he’s going to be a part of their campaign until later on, until maybe April May he doesn’t come back into the fold. So, you’re taking your starting hooker, who has been outstanding for the last two years and you’re taking their best player, their most attacking weapon at fullback and a lot of their experience, and they haven’t got experience to replace it with.

“So, you’ve got two critical players there, and then Fergus Burke ruled out or is not coming back until later on this season. He’s not back until April, he was the guy, the experienced 10 they thought they were going to be able to call on. Also, no Braydon Ennor. No Ethan Blackadder.

“There’s no Whitelock and Mo’unga going forward, we know that. Ultimately I still think they’re going to be part of the picture later in the season.

“But, what’s crucial for them now, these early losses make it increasingly difficult to control your destiny in terms of home-field advantage (in the playoffs), and they’re great at home.”