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Halfpenny determined to return for Crusaders after successful surgery

Leigh Halfpenny of Crusaders leaves the field after picking up an injury during the international rugby friendly match between Munster and Crusaders at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork. (Photo By Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Wales great Leigh Halfpenny has said he will do everything he can to return for the Crusaders this season after undergoing surgery on a pectoral muscle injury.

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The Crusaders confirmed this week that the 35-year-old will be out for three to four months after he injured himself in his side’s pre-season loss to Munster at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork- the Welshman’s first appearance for his new team after joining them at the conclusion of the World Cup last year.

The Crusaders shared this statement shortly after: “Leigh Halfpenny suffered an injury to his pectoral muscle during the pre-season game versus Munster in Cork on Saturday 3 February.

“He will require surgery and is expected to be available for selection in 3-4 months.

“We look forward to Leigh playing an important part in the team throughout the season.”

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The 101-cap Wales international has since shared a post on Instagram saying the surgery went well and that he is looking forward to helping the team out this season.

Halfpenny signed for the Super Rugby giants from the Scarlets on a one-year deal, and though this injury will eat up much of that time, he still has a chance of helping the reigning champions out at the end of the campaign. Though he will face months out, the Super Rugby season runs until late June, and if recent history is anything to go by, the Crusaders are likely to be in the mix at that point.

Halfpenny wrote on social media: “Not how I hoped my debut for the Crusaders would go, but it was an honour to wear the jersey for the first time and special to perform Takina Te Kawa alongside the boys in an amazing occasion.

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“Frustrated to have this set back but the op has gone well and I’m determined to do everything I can during my rehab to get back out on the field. Although I miss the start of the season I’m looking forward to helping the team in any way I can for a big season ahead.”

The Crusaders continued their European pre-season tour with a 31-14 win over Bristol Bears on Friday.

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J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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