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New Zealand Rugby make decision on Crusaders name change

The Crusaders' home ground, Christchurch Stadium. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

By NZ Herald

New Zealand Rugby chairman Brent Impey has confirmed the Crusaders will not be changing their name in 2020.

The Crusaders had been weighing up a name change since the Christchurch terrorist attack in March, but Impey today told Jim Kayes on Radio Sport that nothing would be changing next season.

“The reality is that adidas have got to make jerseys, there’s merchandising and that sort of stuff,” Impey told Radio Sport. “You can’t just change the name of a professional team when there are existing contracts.

“So definitely not. There’s no intention and never has been any intention that the Crusaders name would change in 2020.”

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Impey said a process was still in place to determine if the name would be changed long term.

“The process regarding the Crusaders name is setup, there’s a sub-committee of the New Zealand board working with the Crusaders board, to see which of the two options will be chosen – either a rebranded Crusaders name or a new name. There’s a process underway to do that, we don’t need to rush it.

“But they will be the Crusaders in 2020.”

New Zealand Rugby committed to changing the team’s contentious imagery and employed a research company to assess the merits of a name change following the March 15 mosque shootings which claimed 50 lives.

The Crusaders name, which they have held since Super Rugby began in 1996, winning a record nine championships along the way, has become a source of public contention as it was the title given to Christian armies who fought against Muslims early in the last millennium.

In March, New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew said passionate feedback had been heard on both sides of the debate but clearly the imagery of knights, horsemen and swords couldn’t be ignored for its negative connotations. Tew said Research First would consider two options for the 2020 season: retaining the Crusaders name but changing the branding and undertaking a complete rebranding.

This article first appeared on RugbyPass.com/nzherald.co.nz and is republished with permission

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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.


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