How Rob Penney is planning for the post 'godfather of the Crusaders' era

Scott Robertson has masterminded a historic winning period in Super Rugby history, his promotion to All Blacks coach has left mighty big shoes to fill for the incoming Crusaders coach, Rob Penney.

Penney joins the club in a transition period, farewelling their most successful coach as well as some of their all-time greatest players.

Given the departures, expectations for the Crusaders in 2024 are mixed. But considering their history of finding the next world-class talent and competing in the championship stages, tolerance for anything short of a legit finals push is likely to be short-lived.

“How do you get better than that,” Penney said on The Platform, reflecting on Scott Robertson’s era of dominance. “Well, you don’t try, do you? If we can have consistency and we can emulate, then that will be pretty special.”

Penney will inherit the expectations but also a squad ripe with potential. The Crusaders’ legendary talent development pathways have again worked their magic and identified the next crop of Super Rugby stars, some of whom can be found representing New Zealand in the upcoming U20 World Championship.

“there’s a couple of transitioning people that have been highly influential, and this is no disrespect to anybody in fact it’s probably the other way I hope, with Sammy (Whitelock) and Richie (Mo’unga) moving on and their influence in that group, it just can’t be understated.

“There’s some fantastic young men ready and wanting to have an opportunity to establish themselves in those two critical leadership positions. That may take a little bit of time.

“I guess the godfather of the Crusaders in Sam Whitelock as he’s been for the last 12 or so years and the pivot, probably the best pivot in the world in Richie Mo’unga. You don’t replace those overnight.

“But, in saying that, they’ve done a great job, succession planning there has been tremendous, and there’s young men ready to take over and some of them have spent a bit of time in the saddle which is good.

“There’ll be an expectation of a continuation of success, and that’s great because that drives us all to get better. And if we have a Japanese philosophy which is kaizen, which is a consistent improvement, then hopefully the results will come on the back of that.”