‘Not looking too good’: Crusaders assistant provides update on injured star

Crusaders assistant coach James Marshall has revealed that injured lock Sam Whitelock isn’t “looking too good” after aggravating an Achilles injury against the Hurricanes.

Whitelock missed a number of matches earlier this season with an injury, before returning in round nine to face the Melbourne Rebels.

For a bit, New Zealanders could breathe a collective sigh of relief ahead of this year’s Rugby World Cup in France.

But then, in the Crusaders’ final regular season fixture of the campaign, the lock was replaced at half-time during the tough loss to the Hurricanes at Sky Stadium.

It was later revealed that the two-time Rugby World Cup winner had aggravated an Achilles injury, with coach Scott Robertson updating reporters earlier this week.

But Robertson was hopeful that Whitelock may have “another game or two left in him” – but assistant coach James Marshall wasn’t as optimistic.

“He’s obviously out this week (and) not looking too good for next week either,” Marshall told SENZ The Run Home.

“We’re just sort of waiting for the full scan results and fingers crossed it’s nothing major.

“He’s the last guy we want going down at this time of the year.”

The Crusaders confirmed earlier this month that Whitelock had signed a contract with French club Pau for after this year’s World Cup.

Whitelock will go down in history as an all-time great, and it’s fair to say that a stint on the sidelines would be an unjust end to his “last crusade.”

“He felt a little bit in the first half and then came off, which we thought was pretty precautionary but (it) turns out it might be a little bit more than that,” Marshall added.

“Like I said, fingers crossed it’s nothing major and we’ll see him at some point before the season ends.

“Obviously it’s his last crusade this year so it would be a terrible way to go out like that.”

The Crusaders were beaten by the Fijian Drua earlier this season – a defeat which will echo throughout history as simply one of the greatest upsets ever in the competition.

But the Drua will need to repeat history, and do it away from home this time, if they are to progress to the final four.

The Crusaders host the Drua at Christchurch’s Orangetheory Stadium at 7.05pm NZST on Saturday.