Crusaders sweating on fitness of All Black Will Jordan after re-aggravating his calf injury
Saturday, 23 May 2026
The Crusaders’ crucial victory over the Chiefs on Friday night may have come at hefty cost.
Fullback Will Jordan wasn’t on the park for the final 10 minutes of the comeback win, after potentially re-aggravating the calf injury that sidelined him for six weeks.
“We’ve got our fingers and toes and everything else crossed that the outcome for Will this week is really positive,” head coach Rob Penney said after the 36-32 win at One New Zealand Stadium.
“He’s such a great professional, he will do everything he can to be right. He loves this group and wants to play for them, and let’s hope that’s the case.”
Jordan, who hadn’t played since early April, was seen walking freely after the match, albeit with a compression sock on his right leg.
It goes without saying that losing Jordan for any amount of time would be a big blow to the defending champions, who are also still hoping to get All Black Scott Barrett (back) fit for another title tilt.
Fourth on the ladder (36 points), they will secure a home qualifying final if they beat the Hurricanes on Friday night, and the Chiefs beat the Blues in Hamilton next weekend.
Defeat to the Hurricanes could see them surpassed by the Brumbies (33 points), who beat the Waratahs in Sydney on Friday night ahead of their final regular season game next week - against Moana Pasifika in Canberra.
No Jordan could be the difference between finishing in the top four - which brings the lucky loser card into play - although the red and blacks have a more than handy replacement in Johnny McNicholl.
He scored two of the Crusaders’ six tries against the Chiefs after being injected into the electric match off the bench, one of them via a long Jordan pass.
It was the All Black gun’s last act before he was forced to watch a drama-packed conclusion to a match littered with punches and counter-punches.
The drama included the Crusaders’ baffling decision to kick a long-range penalty goal with time expiring and a 36-32 lead.
Taha Kemara, who isn’t known for having a big leg, was well short on the attempt, allowing the Chiefs to run it out and seriously threaten to make the Crusaders pay.
It turns out Penney and his assistants were dead against the decision, when the Crusaders would have been better off kicking for touch, or even taking a tap and kicking it out after a couple of phases.
“The shot at goal was probably about option 10, to be fair. We weren’t massive advocates of that,” Penney admitted, laughing sheepishly.
“They got caught up in a moment, my word.”
The Chiefs broke deep into Crusaders’ territory, but captain David Havili, who produced a dazzling, match-winning performance, made a crucial tackle and Dallas McLeod pounced on a loose ball to seal the deal.
“It all happened very quickly,” Penney said when asked if he tried to get a message down.
“Messaging is difficult at the best of times, there was plenty of people down there screaming to do alternative things, and probably that was part of it. There was just a lot of noise.”
With both hookers - Codie Taylor and replacement Manumaua Letiu - on the park due to the Crusaders being stretched through injuries, Penney also admitted the former should have taken the throw Letiu over-cooked after Havili’s superb 50-22.
Fortunately for the Crusaders, Chief Josh Jacomb shelled a regulation pass as they attempted to run it out from their 22, setting up the raid that ended with Havili’s 75th minute match-winner.
Penney hailed Havili’s performance. And there was more to it than his try, expertly assisted by a Leicester Fainga’anuku offload after he shrugged off a couple of defenders, and his booming 50-22.
Among other touches, he also played a big hand in McNicholl’s first try, and made an eye-opening tackle on Chiefs flanker Luke Jacobson early in the first half, when he held him up and earned a turnover.
But it was the 50-22 that stood out to deflated Chiefs coach Jono Gibbes.
“Was it a 50-22 or a 22-22? It was a monster,” he said, calling it the decisive moment of the match.
Gibbes conceded the four-point loss felt like one that got away, given they led by eight points with 15 minutes to play.
“It’s pretty gutting to take a good team like that all the way to the very edge, just about kill them off, but leave the door open and they’re good enough to take the opportunity and get the win,” he rued.
But the first-year Chiefs coach had no issue with the decision to kick for three and take a 32-24 lead after Crusaders prop Fletcher Newell was pinged for incorrect ruck entry.
That’s despite the Chiefs having the Crusaders on the rack inside the 22, when it must have been mighty tempting to go for the kill and kick to the corner or call a scrum.
“We were comfortable with that. [Tupou Vaa’i] was making the decision at that stage, and it was our feeling as well. No issue with that.”
Almost certainly locked in as the No 2 seed, Gibbes said he hadn’t thought about resting players next week, but believed it was “too soon” for Damian McKenzie (concussion) to return.