Crusaders reveal their next captain as another experienced international follows in the footsteps of four All Blacks ‘greats’

Colin Newboult
Former Crusaders captain Scott Barrett and his successor David Havili, and head coach Rob Penney (inset).

Former Crusaders captain Scott Barrett and his successor David Havili, and head coach Rob Penney. (James Foy/Speed Media AU/Iconsportswire)

The Crusaders have confirmed which player will succeed Scott Barrett and take on the role of captain for the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season.

It has been revealed that David Havili will be in the position for the upcoming campaign and will be the first back to lead the franchise.

In the previous 20 years, just four people have taken on the responsibility and Havili follows in the footsteps of All Blacks greats Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Sam Whitelock and Barrett.

Before that, Richard Loe, Todd Blackadder and Reuben Thorne had the honour of skippering the team.

The centre or full-back debuted under Read in 2015 and has also been guided by Whitelock and Barrett, as well as Codie Taylor, who was handed the captaincy in 2020 while the latter was on the sidelines nursing a foot injury.

‘Greats of our club’

“I’ve been around and seen how they lead the team and definitely taken a lot from those guys,” Havili told reporters. “They’re the greats of our club.”

Taylor, who is 33 and has been at the Crusaders since 2013, was the other candidate for the captaincy role, but the versatile back was a “unanimous” choice, according to head coach Rob Penney.

“It’s a very thorough process, lots of conversations. Davey is an institution here, 10 years, he’s well embedded. Been an integral part of a lot of success. It was a very unanimous push for Davey to get the role,” Penney said.

“He’s a very humble man with a deep layer of strength and [he’s] strongly values-based. So that’ll be what you’ll get from Davey [as captain].

“Loves this organisation, a very proud man, family orientated and cares deeply not only about this place, but the people within it.

“That raucous uproar was, I think, an indication of how passionate the boys were for Davey’s announcement there.”

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There will be significant pressure on Havili’s shoulders, although it will be a slightly different type of one to what his two predecessors, Whitelock and Barrett, experienced.

They, alongside head coach Scott Robertson, were key in the Crusaders enjoying a period of unprecedented success between 2017 and 2023.

Crusaders’ dreadful 2024

However, after Robertson left to become All Blacks head coach and some greats of the franchise, including Whitelock, also departed, they struggled in 2024.

The Christchurch-based outfit surprisingly missed out on the play-offs last season after winning just four of their 14 matches.

Despite doubts around his future, Penney managed to keep his job this season and his first act of 2025 was to name Havili as his skipper.

According to the 30-year-old, he spent plenty of time thinking about whether to take on the extra responsibility before committing to the position.

“It was probably a couple of weeks, to be honest. I just wanted to make sure that it was gonna get everything from me. I had a good conversation with my partner Lucy and my close mates and, yeah, that’s what I’m about,” the versatile back added.

“Why else would I be here if I wasn’t going to give everything to the team, whether I’m captain or not?

“I spoke to Scooter [Barrett] and a few other old boys as well about it and they said I was a good candidate for the job, so I’m extremely blessed to be in this situation.”

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