The Canterbury Crusaders barely need a pep talk ahead of their final regular season Super Rugby game against the Wellington Hurricanes today, as they know the significance of the occasion, coach Scott Robertson said.
The Crusaders lead the overall standings on 63 points and can guarantee home advantage throughout the playoffs with an away win over the Hurricanes after an unbeaten run in Super Rugby this season with a 14-0 record.
Only one team has gone through the season unbeaten — the 2002 Crusaders side, who won all 11 round-robin games, then their semi-final and the final to clinch a fourth title.
Photo: AFP
“It’s pretty obvious we’ve got a chance to do something special,” Robertson told reporters in Christchurch yesterday as he attempted to downplay the unbeaten record. “The boys are pretty clear; we don’t have to get round and hold hands and chat about that. They know. They’re big boys.”
Despite the significance of the match, Robertson has opted to rest his All Blacks front row of props Joe Moody and Owen Franks, and hooker Code Taylor after a brutal series against the British and Irish Lions.
“It is a welfare thing. No one can go 10 games in a row — the guys are holding different niggles and we have three more big games after this,” Robertson said.
However, Robertson was still able to call on five other international forwards to start the match, including All Blacks captain Kieran Read, and had faith that his pack would be able to attack the Hurricanes in the set piece and at the breakdown.
“We have got a strong set piece and we trust all our squad,” Robertson said of a pack that still includes New Zealand prop Wyatt Crockett, locks Scott Barrett and Luke Romano, and loose forwards Matt Todd and Read.
The Hurricanes are fifth in the standings on 54 points and a win will mean they only need travel to Canberra to face the ACT Brumbies in the quarter-finals.
If they lose and the Waikato Chiefs beat the Brumbies earlier today, they would head to South Africa to face the Stormers.
Hurricanes captain T.J. Perenara said upending the Crusaders’ pursuit for perfection was not a factor in their thinking.
“We want to beat them and it’s not just because they haven’t lost a game,” Perenara said. “It’s because it puts us in a better position in terms of travel for our quarter-final, so we go out there and expect to play well and win games.”
The Otago Highlanders in their match yesterday showed a few signs of rust, but were far too strong for the Queensland Reds as they warmed up for the quarter-finals with a 40-17 victory at Otago Regional Stadium in Dunedin.
Waisake Naholo, James Lentjes, Kayne Hammington, Tevita Li and Ash Dixon all crossed for the home side, while referee Mike Fraser awarded a penalty try.
Izack Rodda, Alex Mafi and Caleb Timu crossed for the visitors.
In yesterday’s second match, the Rebels lost to the Jaguares 34-29.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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