Crusaders team to play the Highlanders in pre-season clash

Jan 22 • General News, New Zealand, Super Rugby News • 2151 Views • Comments Off on Crusaders team to play the Highlanders in pre-season clash

Crusaders and Highlanders fans will get their first opportunity to see their teams in action this weekend, when they meet in a pre-season clash in Timaru. The game kicks off at 2:30 at Alpine Energy Stadium and will be played in four quarters with rolling substitutions.

Crusaders Head Coach Todd Blackadder has named his squad for the southern derby and says the boys are itching to get out on the field and play some rugby.

“The pre-season is starting to feel long to the players by about now. They’ve been pushed to their limits by trainers and coaches since before Christmas and now they’re just really looking forward to playing some actual rugby.

“For us, this is going to be a really useful opportunity to see how the players fare under some game pressure and to learn about what our key work-ons should be for the remainder of the pre-season,” Blackadder said.

The team to play in Timaru is made up of current squad members, wider training group members and some players who have been involved in the pre-season as part of the Crusaders apprenticeship system.

The Crusaders will play two other pre-season games – vs the Hurricanes in Eketahuna on 31 January and vs the Reds in Brisbane on 6 February.

Crusaders team to play the Highlanders:

1
Alex Hodgman

2
Codie Taylor

3
Nepo Laulala

4
Scott Barrett

5
Jimmy Tupou

6
Tom Sanders

7
Matt Todd (c )

8
Luke Whitelock

9
Mitchell Drummond

10
Richie Mo’unga

11
Nafi Tuitavake

12
Nathaniel Apa

13
Kieron Fonotia

14
Jone Macalai

15
Johnny McNicholl

Replacements:

Ben Funnell (FR)

Daniel Lienert–Brown (FR)

Sione Faletau (FR)

Dominic Bird

Jordan Taufua

Billy Guyton

Robbie Fruean

Ged Robinson (FR)

Rob Thompson

Reed Prinsep

George Bridges

Michael Green

Willi Heinz

Milford Keresoma

Luke Romano

Jed Brown

Luteru Laulala

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