Crusaders boosted as veteran All Black returns to start in Super Rugby Pacific final
The Crusaders have received a boost on the eve of Saturday’s Super Rugby Pacific final against the Chiefs in Hamilton after Sam Whitelock was named in their starting line-up.
The 34-year-old, who has played 177 games for the Christchurch-based franchise, has been out of action in recent weeks with an Achilles injury but has been included in the Crusaders’ run-on side in what will be his final game for the team.
Starts alongside captain Scott Barrett
Whitelock comes in as a replacement for Quinten Strange, who drops down to the replacements bench, and is set to start alongside Crusaders captain Scott Barrett in the second-row.
Meanwhile, for the third week in a row, Super Rugby Pacific‘s defending champions will take to the field with an unchanged front-row. All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor will pack down alongside Tamaiti Williams and Oliver Jager, who are the starting props.
The rest of the pack has a familiar look to it with Christian Lio-Willie continuing at number eight while Tom Christie and Sioni Talitui are the starting flankers.
In the backline, departing playmaker and Crusaders centurion Richie Mo’unga will start at fly-half once again, while Mitchell Drummond continues alongside him at scrum-half.
Jack Goodhue and Braydon Ennor are the starting centres once again while Will Jordan is at full-back with Leicester Fainga’anuku – who is also playing in his last game for the Crusaders – and Dallas McLeod taking their places on the wings.
Ready to make an impact off the bench are George Bell, Kershawl Sykes-Martin, Reuben O’Neill, Quinten Strange and Dominic Gardiner, Willi Heinz, Fergus Burke and Chay Fihaki.
Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson is delighted to have Whitelock back but said the veteran All Black still has to prove his fitness ahead of the final.
“We will take it right to the warm-up for him. He’s trained extremely well, done everything all week, it’s looking positive,” Robertson told Stuff. He added that Whitelock will be left to make the final decision before the match.
Barrett confident Whitelock will be ready
Whitelock, who is set to join Top 14 outfit Pau after the Rugby World Cup in France later this year, will be desperate to play and Crusaders skipper Barrett is confident his second-row partner will be ready to play on Saturday.
“He’s come out pretty good after training on a heavy ground… he will take confidence,” said Barrett. “But he’ll make the decision, whenever that is. We’re anticipating he’s going to play, but if not we’ve got a contingency plan behind that.”
Crusaders: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Dallas McLeod, 13 Braydon Ennor, 12 Jack Goodhue, 11 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Mitch Drummond, 8 Christian Lio-Willie, 7 Tom Christie, 6 Sione Havili Talitui, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Oli Jager, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements: 16 George Bell, 17 Kershawl Sykes-Martin, 18 Reuben O’Neill, 19 Quinten Strange, 20 Dom Gardiner, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Chay Fihaki
Date: Saturday, June 24
Venue: FMG Stadium, Hamilton
Kick-off: 19:05 local (08:05 BST)
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Nic Berry (Australia)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
READ MORE: Five storylines ahead of the Super Rugby Pacific final including Scott Robertson’s last dance