Why Crusaders veteran Codie Taylor expects another hostile environment in Super Rugby Pacific semifinal

Thursday, 11 June 2026

Chiefs star Damian McKenzie and Crusaders hooker Codie Taylor speak after a Super Rugby Aotearoa game in 2020.

What: Super Rugby Pacific semifinal, Chiefs v Crusaders. Where: FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton. When: Friday, 7.05pm; live on Sky Sport 1.

Crusaders veteran Codie Taylor vividly recalls his first start in Super Rugby at a hostile FMG Stadium Waikato back in 2013.

Taylor and his team-mates up front came off second best against Hika Elliot, Ben Tameifuna, Pauliasi Manu and co in a contest the Chiefs won 28-19. The Chiefs’ fans were loud and proud and not afraid to remind the men from down south who was in charge on the scoreboard.

“My first start for Crusaders was up there in Hamilton and I remember it pretty clearly. The hostility of the environment. Their fans are really engaging, they get right behind them. It’s a great place to play. It’s an area that loves rugby,” Taylor said ahead of Friday’s mouth-watering semifinal in Hamilton.

“We’re under no doubt it’s going to be loud. There’s going to be a bit of chat on the sideline, but that’s what it’s all about, especially come this time of year.”

Taylor lost his first five games against the Chiefs, finally tasting victory for the first time against them in 2017 in a match played in Suva, Fiji.

A scuffle breaks out between the Crusaders and Chiefs in a 2012 game in Hamilton.

The rivalry between the Crusaders and Chiefs has been the most heated and intense of any New Zealand teams in recent years. On the field, there is always plenty of feeling and it would be no different in a knockout finals clash, where one team’s season will come to an end.

In the first meeting in Hamilton in February, tempers flared when Chiefs prop Jared Proffit tipped Crusaders captain David Havili in back play, which left him dazed, and bizarrely escaped punishment.

Neither team would admit to publicly despising the other in a week with so much on the line, but it is clear when they step on the field any goodwill quickly disappeared. Many of the players are in the All Blacks and good friends, outside of a Kiwi derby.

“Off the field you’re mates and on the field you’re rugby players. You’re going at each other. That’s the way it’s always been. I’m sure there’s hostility from both sides in terms of the way we think about each other,” Taylor said.

“That’s expected. It’s a contact sport. You want to go out there and dominate and win and they have their moments and we have ours. It will be the same case this weekend.”

Crusaders hooker Codie Taylor races away for his side’s only try in last year’s Super Rugby Pacific final against the Chiefs.

Taylor’s battle within the battle at scrum time with All Blacks team-mate and Chiefs opposite Samisoni Taukei'aho will be a treat. He had immense respect for Taukei'aho and was readying for a tough night against him and the Chiefs front row.

Taylor labelled the Chiefs rolling maul as the most potent in Super Rugby Pacific with Taukei'aho almost unstoppable when he had the ball in the boot in the opposition 22. He showcased that perfectly in the last contest at One New Zealand Stadium, powering over from a rolling maul in a game the Chiefs lost 36-32.

“They’ve got a great forward pack and they really pride themselves on that area of their game. It’s going to be a tough battle and we’d be foolish to think otherwise.”

Chiefs supporters would have been sick of the sight of Taylor in last year’s decider in Christchurch with the experienced rake delivering two big moments in their 16-12 triumph, the Crusaders’ 15th Super Rugby crown, and eighth in nine seasons.

He scored their only try of the game, catapulting out of a rolling maul and scooting 22m down the touchline to score. Taylor and fellow front rower Fletcher Newell then teamed up for a try-saving tackle on Chiefs lock Tupou Vaa'i early in the second half, a pivotal moment in the match.

Discipline and keeping their cool if things got fiery had been emphasised in team meetings this week, Taylor said.

Come out on the wrong end of a lopsided penalty count or lose men to a yellow card, or even a red, could alter the course of the game. The Blues found that out in the qualifying final with Malachi Wrampling sent off following a dangerous tackle on Crusaders flanker Leicester Fainga’anuku.

“Discipline, penalties, all that stuff can change momentum and affect the scoreboard. We’ve talked about it and I’m sure they’re aware of it too. It’s always a heated game against these guys.

“You’re playing against a lot of people that you know. They love their club and their region and we love ours.”

All Blacks prop Newell returns from a knee injury, which kept him out of the qualifying final, to bolster the Crusaders up front. Braydon Ennor gets the start at centre for Dallas McLeod, who suffered a groin injury in the win over the Blues.

Chiefs: Isaac Hutchinson, Liam Coombes-Fabling, Lalakai Foketi, Quinn Tupaea, Kyren Taumoefolau, Damian McKenzie, Cortez Ratima, Simon Parker, Luke Jacobson (capt), Samipeni Finau, Tupou Vaa’i, Josh Lord, Sione Ahio, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Olli Norris. Reserves: Brodie McAlister, Jared Proffit, George Dyer, Seuseu Naitoa Ah Kuoi, Kaylum Boshier, Xavier Roe, Josh Jacomb, Leroy Carter.

Crusaders: Johnny McNicholl, Chay Fihai, Braydon Ennor, David Havili (capt), Sevu Reece, Taha Kemara, Noah Hotham, Christian Lio-Willie, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Ethan Blackadder, Jamie Hannah, Antonio Shalfoon, Fletcher Newell, Codie Taylor, Finlay Brewis. Reserves: Manumaua Letiu, Jack Sexton, George Bower, Tahlor Cahill, Dom Gardiner, Kyle Preston, Rivez Reihana, Macca Springer.