Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Fans blast new Crusaders logo

The Crusaders huddle at AMI Stadium in front of old decor. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

After a lengthy process, the Crusaders Super Rugby franchise have decided to stick with their current name for the foreseeable future.

ADVERTISEMENT

Post the Christchurch shooting earlier this year, the franchise faced criticism for using a name heavily tied to religious wars that were waged between the 10th and 13th centuries.

A statement released by the Crusaders shortly after the event acknowledged the criticism and a formal process has since taken place to determine the way forward.

Today, the Crusaders confirmed that the name would be retained but some fairly significant rebranding would still take place, with a a new logo unveiled.

The logo – a stylised ‘C’, is a significant change from the previous knight symbol.

Video Spacer

“The Tohu (symbol) is shaped by our natural landscape which stretches from the top of the Southern Alps to the depths of our moana,” said Crusaders CEO Colin Mansbridge.

“Taking the form of the letter ‘C’ but expressed in a way that is unique to us. It nods to our legacy while moving us forward.”

Fans have quickly taken to social media to comment on the change – and the new emblem isn’t exactly receiving glowing reviews.

ADVERTISEMENT

https://twitter.com/firestorm616/status/1200220249708085248

It appears that by trying to please as many people as possible, the Crusaders have managed to alienate everyone. Based on social media, there are considerably more detractors of the new logo than there are supporters.

The new logo will be used for marketing and as much as is practically possible for the upcoming season, but it’s unclear whether it will be used on this year’s jerseys, which are set to be unveiled in the coming days.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 2020 Super Rugby season will kick off at the end of January with the Crusaders playing their first match on February 1st.

WATCH: Former Crusader and All Black Andrew Mehrtens has a radical new idea for Super Rugby.

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

F
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?

4 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea
Search