Crusaders player ratings: All Blacks coaches learn lesson from high-profile experiment
How the Crusaders players rated in their 35-20 win against the Waratahs in Christchurch on Friday night.
1. Finlay Brewis – 5
With Tamaiti Williams out, Brewis continues to put his shoulder to the wheel. His 58-minute spell came with eight tackles in a solid defensive effort.
2. Codie Taylor (vc) – 7
The All Blacks veteran returned from injury and gave the Waratahs a good bit of “welcome to our house” in the first haka under the Canty roof. Taylor was accurate in the (largely uncontested) lineouts and gets some credit for that grunty Crusaders scrum. As soon as the ball was in his mitts on the hooter-hugging lineout, a try was in the bag.
3. Fletcher Newell – 7
The Crusaders have the most effective scrum in the competition and a fair bit of that is because of the Rangiora product’s grunt work. It was richly on display in his 67-minute shift of thumping toil.
4. Antonio Shalfoon – 6
Early handbags with Waratahs No 7 Charlie Gamble set the tone for a testy evening. Better Super Rugby sides (ie, ones from New Zealand) might have tested Shalfoon in the aerial exchanges, but he was accurate in his leaps and busy around the park.
5. Tahlor Cahill – 6
Cahill had a cold-handed spill of the ball in the sixth minute when the hosts were looking good to strike within cooee of the Waratahs’ line. But for the other 84 minutes, he handled well and tackled like a brute. In a game where few jumpers attacked the opposition ball, Cahill smartly nabbed a Tahs’ throw in the 55th minute.
6. Dom Gardiner – 7
The St Bede’s College product displayed slick hands in the movement that led to the opening try. Had a massive influence in the first quarter with ball in hand and belting into tackles. Ran hard throughout and handled sweetly in the build-up to McLeod’s second try.
7. Leicester Fainga’anuku – 9
New stadium; new jersey. Fainga’anuku gets his first start as a flanker in Super Rugby. On this evidence, the Crusaders’ ambitious hybrid project could bear fruit at international level as a weird adjunct to an All Blacks bomb squad. Up against Christchurch kid Charles Gamble in the Tahs No 7 jersey, the Crusaders’ gamble in taking their most prolific ball carrier (Fainga’anuku tops his team’s stats for carries and defenders beaten) and banging him into a different position massively paid off.
Forget the fact that Fainga’anuku gifted the visitors the first points at the stunning new venue when he was pinged at an early ruck, pretty much everything else he did was vindication of his move to the loosies. There were magic offloads, beast-mode tackles and loads of hearty running – his 48th-minute try with a sweet shimmy and shove would do Zinny proud. Maybe No 8 would be better than No 7?
It’s reasonable to wonder if better opposition would have picked apart the gaps in his game, but on this showing the Fainga’anuku Project is worth persevering with.
8. Christian Lio‑Willie – 6
The Crusaders’ resident dentist got his teeth stuck into heaps of defensive work but was overshadowed in ball-carrying duties by Fainga’anuku.
9. Noah Hotham – 7
Let history record that the first box kick at Christchurch’s $683 million stadium went straight into touch. The Crusaders were burnt by their own confidence when starting the preferred No 9 on the bench in Perth a week before. Hotham was sharp and fizzing on his return at home.
A smart and bustling defender, he bagged a cracking turnover in the 19th minute (lip readers report that Waratahs coach Dan McKellar was captured on camera mouthing the words “sucks fake” – or similar – afterwards).
Kicked judiciously and ran aggressively. Gets extra credit for getting under the Waratahs’ skin and setting up the yellow card for Miles Amatosero. Well played, halfback!
10. Taha Kemara – 5
The Waikato boy was happy to share first-receiver duties around, with the coaching directive clearly focused on big blokes carting the ball back into the fray or bashing into midfield. Was guilty of a couple of wayward passes, but his bang-on-target wide conversion to get the lead back on the halftime hooter was key. And the kick-pass in the build-up to McLeod’s 55th-minute strike was a thoughtful gem.
Like his teammates, Kemara was clever and patient in defence. He shut down a 50th-minute corner-flag charge that could have brought the Aussies back into it.
11. Macca Springer – 6
Scrappy on defence, Springer (running while Chay Fihaki nurses a crocked hamstring) had a few attacking dabs before easing into a crucial strike in the 68th minute.
12. David Havili (c) – 7
You know that hits are about to get real when the No 12 straps on a set of headgear in a big match. Havili was accurate and reliable throughout with subtle touches from hand and foot.
The Crusaders’ boss-man needed to recognise the threat and marshal his defenders better to prevent the Waratahs’ clever kick-pass try in the 34th minute, and he was unlucky to land a 58th-minute yellow card in the general melee of a tackle.
But the skipper’s influence across the match was key on a big night in Crusaders history.
13. Braydon Ennor – 6
Broke early on defence to gift the Waratahs their second penalty and had a couple of moments of scratchy handling, perhaps the worst of which was a blunt 18th-minute knock on. But there was a tonne of good work on both sides of the ball from a classic Crusader toiler. Ennor’s monster hit on Tom Lambert in the 53rd minute shut down a promising Waratahs attack and reminded the visitors of the weight of the occasion.
14. Dallas McLeod – 7
Took his chance with Sevu Reece out crook. He looked a little surprised – and leaden-footed – when the space for his first try opened up, but bagged it all the same. Skinned his man for the second and pretty much cut the Tahs’ fullback Max Jorgensen in two with a highlights-reel tackle from the restart. Unlucky not to get a hat-trick.
15. Johnny McNicholl – 5
Will Jordan is out for a few more weeks with a calf strain, and, in his absence, McNicholl’s work at the back was more prosaic than penetrating. He was error-free and defensively sound.
Bench
16. George Bell – 4
The boy from Shag Valley Station is the Crusaders’ joint-leading tryscorer for 2026, and a handy brute in breakdowns – as demonstrated in his 60th-minute snaffling of a defensive take when his team were one man down. Four minutes later, he was slow-witted when allowing the Tahs’ inside runner to bag that 64th-minute score and was let down by some dull handling.
17. George Bower – 5
Aussie scrum gained advantage when the bench frontrowers first came on, but the Cantabs sharpened up to shut things down in the final quarter with a couple of sweet key set-piece penalties.
18. Seb Calder – 5
Cut and paste for George Bower text.
19. Jamie Hannah – 6
A revelation in his lineout work this season, Hannah came off the bench for a 22-minute session of uncontested set-piece drills and hard-hitting breakdown work.
20. Johnny Lee – 2
Bad luck, son. Unwisely held the boot of a defender who was a 100-1 chance of stopping Havili from scoring at the death. Try disallowed. Sorry, skipper.
21. Kyle Preston – 5
Subbed on for the highly influential halfback Hotham when the Crusaders were well and truly on top.
22. Rivez Reihana – 5
Popped over a conversion in the 67th minute, but really why do we sub first fives?
23. Maloni Kunawave – 5
Got his bench spot because of Sevu Reece’s illness and earned his first Super Rugby cap on a big night for Crusaders at their new home. Welcome to the big show, buddy!