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Crusaders issue update on David Havili injury following emergency surgery

(Photo by Michael Bradley/Getty Images)

The Crusaders have issued an update on David Havili’s injury situation after the utility back underwent emergency surgery on his abdominal on Friday.

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The 25-year-old was absent from his side’s 24-20 victory over the Reds in Christchurch three days ago as the Crusaders announced on Sunday that he went under the knife after “experiencing some discomfort”.

In another brief statement released on Monday, the Crusaders said that Havili had a “serious infection of his bowel” which caused the urgent surgery, and that the utility back “is recovering well but will not be available for several weeks”.

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“As this is a non rugby-related issue, the Crusaders won’t be commenting further, and a return to play timeframe will be advised at a later date,” the statement concluded.

The injury blow is a significant one for both Havili and the Crusaders.

Havili has been one of the form players in Super Rugby so far this season, having impressed for the back-to-back-to-back reigning champions mainly from fullback, but also at first-five.

Statistically speaking, he has made the most offloads (14) in the competition to date, while also accumulating an impressive 258 running metres, six clean breaks and beaten 14 defenders in just four matches.

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Without Havili, the Crusaders will be without one of their key attacking figures for an undisclosed yet lengthy period.

On a personal level, the injury is an untimely one for the three-test All Black, who can also play in the midfield and is looking to regain his place in the national side after having made his last appearance at test level in 2017.

The departures of Ryan Crotty, Sonny Bill Williams and Ben Smith have opened some berths in the All Blacks squad for some fresh faces, and Havili’s early season exploits made him a top candidate to fill one of those voids.

However, his selection chances may be cast in doubt thanks to this bowel infection, although there remains hope that he could return before the end of the campaign to play his way back into national contention.

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In Havili’s absence, the Crusaders can call upon promising youngster Will Jordan to plug the gap at fullback, but a niggling groin injury has seen him sidelined in recent weeks.

Nine-test George Bridge played well in the No. 15 jersey during the Crusaders’ win over the Reds and may be utilised there until Jordan or Havili become match fit, although All Blacks rest weeks could alter his availability status.

The fourth-placed Crusaders will continue their quest to secure a fourth successive Super Rugby crown this weekend when they travel to Brisbane to take on the Sunwolves at Suncorp Stadium.

In other news:

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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