Crusaders face the Hurricanes in a non-competition friendly

Jun 20 • General News, New Zealand • 2386 Views • Comments Off on Crusaders face the Hurricanes in a non-competition friendly

Amidst the polar blast that is hitting the country the Crusaders will head to Levin to face the Hurricanes in a non-competition friendly. The game will take place at the Levin Domain on Friday 21^st June with kick-off at 6.45pm.

Crusaders Head Coach Todd Blackadder is pleased to be playing the Hurricanes during the June test window. “It is really important to keep our focus and momentum during this three week break. Playing the Hurricanes will allow us to keep on top of our game and be fully prepared for the final three rounds of Super Rugby games,” said Blackadder.

The Crusaders have met the Hurricanes twice this season. Early in the year in Timaru the two played a pre-season match, where the Canes came out on top by one point. That winning margin was repeated in Wellington on the 8^th March in their first competition encounter. Looking ahead, the Crusaders will host their second derby match in Christchurch during the final round of the competition on Friday 12^th July.

Head Coach Todd Blackadder has named his team to play the Hurricanes. The forward pack see’s a number of the wider training group make the starting fifteen while in the backs has a familiar look to it. Three club rugby players who have showed form this season have had the call up as injury cover and make it onto the bench. They are Matt Holloway and Matt Symons from High School Old Boys and Marcel Cumming-Toone from New Brighton.

This non-competition match will provide both teams’ game time before heading back into the 2013 Investec Super Rugby season next week. The Crusaders are currently sitting sixth on the table and have three round robin matches left to play. All three games are against our New Zealand conference counterparts, kicking off with the Southern Derby in Dunedin against the Highlanders on 29^th June.