OU HAVE to hand it to Crusaders fans. They’re a cocky bunch but in fairness they’ve got every right to be. Two Christchurch natives who fall into that category despite covering rugby for New Zealand’s two major TV news shows, Ollie Ritchie of Newshub and Guy Heveldt of TVNZ, certainly aren’t letting the fact that it’s very much beach weather in this part of the world stop them from talking up the prospects of another successful Crusaders season.
“They want to keep winning, to keep finding ways to win,” says Ritchie.
“Razor’s last year probably. They’ll be sending him out on a high,” adds Heveldt on the team’s coach Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson, before the conversation takes turn into who the Crusaders might meet in the final.
It sums up the way you preview Super Rugby, in all the various forms it has had during its often turbulent off-field history, in almost every year. A competition that can never seem to figure out just how many teams should be involved or what sort of format it should take, does possess the most constant theme in the game: no matter what happens, the Crusaders will almost certainly win it. The real question is who is going to potentially get beaten in the final when the Christchurch franchise do it.
That presumption has beentrophies six times. In fact, the offices of the franchise now have a piece of silverware for every room at their headquarters at Christchurch’s Rugby Park, numbering 13 overall. Most fans of other teams have found themselves in a strange position during this latest dynasty – outside the region the Crusaders are reviled for their success, yet their coach Robertson remains the vocal choice of most to take over the All Blacks when the current boss, Ian Foster, is moved on. There’s very little debate over their players making the national side, which usually is the initial fuse for inter-region bickering.
