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Sevu Reece and Codie Taylor given bench duty for Crusaders opener as up-and-coming opensider handed debut

(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

The Crusaders will begin their 25th Investec Super Rugby season this Saturday night, when they host the Waratahs in Nelson.

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Head Coach Scott Robertson has named his team to face the Sydney-based side at Trafalgar Park, and it includes two Investec Super Rugby debutants.

21-year old Tom Christie has been named to start at openside flanker in place of Billy Harmon, who injured his knee during the Crusaders first pre-season match in Ashburton.

Meanwhile, Cullen Grace, the youngest player of any in the New Zealand Super Rugby squads at just 20 years old, has been named in the reserves. Grace has spent most of his career in the second row but will likely see plenty of game time on the blindside flank this season.

Continue reading below…

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Round one also sees the return of All Blacks Scott Barrett, Richie Mo’unga, Jack Goodhue, Codie Taylor and Sevu Reece to the Crusaders side, and Barrett will run out for the first time as Captain. Taylor and David Havili have been named vice-captains of the side for 2020.

The Crusaders’ World Cup All Blacks are limited to approximately just one half of rugby in week one, which will result in plenty of minutes for the likes of Brett Cameron and Luke Romano on the bench.

In total, the 10-time champions have 10 All Blacks in their 23, but a number have made just a handful of appearances for the national side – or fewer.

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The Crusaders announced today that there will be more than just first-round points on the line this weekend, with both sides also raising funds for Rural Aid. $1000 for every try scored in the match will go to Rural Aid in support of the relief effort from the Australian bushfires.

Crusaders: David Havili, Will Jordan, Braydon Ennor, Jack Goodhue, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Richie Mo’unga, Mitchell Drummond,   Whetukamokamo Douglas, Tom Christie, Tom Sanders, Mitchell Dunshea, Scott Barrett (c), Oliver Jager, Andrew Makalio, George Bower. Reserves: Codie Taylor, Isi Tu’ungafasi, Michael Alaalatoa, Luke Romano, Cullen Grace, Bryn Hall, Brett Cameron, Sevu Reece.

– with Crusaders Rugby

World Rugby have added pressure on national teams to improve their results in 2020 after confirming that the draw for the 2023 World Cup will take place later this year:

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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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