Author: Brent Craig

The final edition of Super XV gets under way in Christchurch on Friday night with the seven-time champion Crusaders hosting Aussie battlers the Melbourne Rebels. Punters on both sides of the Tasman have installed the hosts as red-hot favourites despite them losing all three of their pre-season matches and being without key players Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock (both granted mini-sabbaticals), Israel Dagg (currently on extended post-EOYT leave), Nemani Nadolo (only just back from Japan so not considered), and Andy Ellis (still in Japan). The absence of Ellis compounds the season-ending injury sustained by Willi Heinz and leaves the halfback…

Bowed but unbroken by their 81st minute 2014 Grand Final loss, Todd Blackadder’s Crusaders are back in the saddle for another crack at the eighth title that has eluded them since they last won in 2008. The Squad The big news from the off-season is the return of Robbie Fruean from the Chiefs. He missed most of the last Super Rugby season with a recurrence of his heart problems, but looked sharp for Hawkes Bay in the ITM Cup. The Crusaders will be looking to him to form a midfield partnership with Ryan Crotty that allows them to get full…