Crusaders vs Hurricanes takes: Crusaders back in the hunt

It took six weeks for the Crusaders to get their first win of the season in 2024, making Friday’s victory over the Hurricanes a welcome relief to fans hoping their Scott Robertson hangover would be short-lived.

A 33-25 result at home came about thanks to a 17-3 second half where a number of debutants rewarded the faith of the club’s recruiters.

Four new faces lined up for the men in red and black, including former Wallaby James O’Connor and Wellington Lions halfback Kyle Preston. Promising young talent was also on display for the visitors, with former All Blacks Sevens star Fehi Fineanganofo making a strong impression on debut.

Here are four takeaways from the Crusaders win.

Fehi Fineanganofo highlights a declining path to success

There were two former All Blacks Sevens stars who lit up the opening night of the Super Rugby Pacific season: Fehi Fineanganofo and the Highlanders’ Caleb Tangitau.

The Hurricane made eight carries for 117 metres, second only to Sevu Reece in the contest, looking threatening and explosive with every touch. With four defenders beaten, the 22-year-old has stepped into the game-breaking roles of Josh Moorby and Salesi Rayasi with ease after the pair’s departure.

In the second contest of the night, Tangitau dotted down twice for the Highlanders in his club debut.

The broader context of the pair’s success is it shows how great of a development pathway the Sevens circuit is. Grassroots sevens in New Zealand hasn’t had the investment of yesteryear and the All Blacks Sevens isn’t seen as the pathway it once was when attracting the Ioanes and Saveas of the world – despite the recruitment of one Ollie Mathis in the current squad.

The young speedsters have hit Super Rugby with confidence and game-breaking athleticism, helping to prove a point recently expressed by the great Sir Gordon Tietjens; Sevens makes stars.

Kyle Preston with a debut for the ages

Preston made a dream start to his Super Rugby Pacific career against his hometown team on Friday night, claiming a hat-trick of well-earnt tries in extended minutes after Noah Hotham succumbed to injury.

Lining up against All Blacks starter Cam Roigard for much of the contest, not many would have predicted it would be the rookie who would come out trumps in the matchup, but that’s exactly what happened.

Fresh off an NPC title with the Wellington Lions, Preston proved his fitness is more than just an impressive bronco time as time and time again he put himself in the position his team needed him, whether it be on a support line or a timely arrival at the ruck.

His second try of the night finished a shining display of creative and electric rugby where Will Jordan collected David Havili’s chip kick before finding Sevu Reece who also opted for the boot to find Preston running a midfield line towards the posts.

Young playmakers show promise

2024 highlighted the uncertain future of the playmaking stocks in New Zealand. Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie shared the honours at the international level but just as Harry Plummer made it to the big leagues, he signed a deal in France.

There was an apparent and significant age gap between those players and the next generation coming through; the likes of the Chiefs’ Josh Jacomb and the Highlanders’ Cam Millar who have received hype in recent seasons. Add Harry Godfrey and Taha Kemara to that list.

Godfrey, 22, stepped into the No. 10 jersey for the first time at the Super Rugby level on Friday night as Brett Cameron and Ruben Love were sidelined with injury. With only some playmaking experience in the NPC and a dozen Super Rugby appearances under his belt, the youngster never looked lacking in confidence under the bright lights.

Godfrey delivered a crisp skip pass to Peter Umaga-Jensen to exploit an overlap and set up his side’s second try of the night and added two conversions and a penalty in the first half.

Opposite him, Kemara had the quieter night of the two as Crusaders captain David Havili did much of the distribution work at first receiver and behind the first pod of forwards.

However, given that Kemara was dropped after limited minutes in the 2024 season in favour of Rivez Reihana and then Riley Hohepa, this shift deserves to be recognised as the 21-year-old Maori All Black looked far more comfortable on the park.

The Crusaders are back in the hunt

The second half of this contest showed the winning DNA of this Crusaders outfit is alive and well.

The team lacked experience in key areas like hooker and in the halves but surrounded those positions with enough experience to cover the gaps comfortably.

One thing that will always help a side is star power, and this side is anything but lacking in that department. Sevu Reece is at his very best in a Crusaders jersey and provided another blockbuster performance on Friday night, making 19 carries, three linebreaks and beating 10 defenders. Remarkable numbers.

The more Reece got into the game, the better the Crusaders looked. With the playmaking threats of Havili and Kemara, the physicality of Levi Aumua and the X-factor of Will Jordan, the Hurricanes had their hands full defending the Crusaders’ attack and leaked points in the wide channels.

The club’s consistency was poor last season, with injuries making their starting lineup a revolving door, but let’s not forget the Crusaders were without a handful of All Blacks when they won their last title in 2023. What got them over the line was having key players healthy when it mattered, and with the likes of Will Jordan, Ethan Blackadder, Scott Barrett and Havili in the team with Codie Taylor yet to return, there is a world-class spine to set this team in the right direction.