Beleaguered Crusaders suffer ultimate embarrassment as Chiefs rest Damian McKenzie for huge derby

Chiefs’ star player Damian McKenzie will sit out this weekend’s clash against the struggling Crusaders in a rather surprising move.

The in-form fly-half, who is expected to take the All Blacks 10 shirt for the 2024 Test season, has featured in all five Super Rugby Pacific games so far.

However, under the agreement with New Zealand Rugby, McKenzie must miss at least two Super Rugby matches.

Interestingly, they have chosen their encounter with the Crusaders as one of those games. The Christchurch outfit have dominated this competition for the past seven years, but are enduring their worst-ever run.

They are rooted to the foot of the table following five successive losses and will miss out on the play-off if things don’t improve rapidly.

Eyebrow-raising call

The Crusaders will be boosted by McKenzie’s absence, a decision which has raised a few eyebrows in New Zealand.

Chiefs head coach Clayton McMillan insisted that it was always the plan, but you wonder whether that would have been altered had their rivals been in better form.

It is a sign of the times that the Waikato outfit are willing to make that call for a match which has always been of huge significance in the past.

“We had always planned on Damian getting through the first four or five games before he needed a rest, as per the protocols,” McMillan told Stuff earlier this week.

“It’s certainly got nothing to do with the Crusaders and how they are tracking at the moment, that didn’t even factor into our thinking, it just either had to be last week or this week.

“He’s had a niggly knee… it’s nothing serious, it’s just something that’s been a bit of a niggle at the start of last week, that’s why we contemplated him resting [against the Highlanders], but he came good. But it’s just a timely reminder, instead of pushing it another week to a point where something that’s minor could turn into something a little bit more serious.

“If Damian had been 100% fit, it might have been an easier decision to extend him another week, but he’s not, so we won’t risk him.”

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Chiefs don’t have a huge amount of depth in that position, despite the presence of Josh Ioane, with Bryn Gatland (Japan) and Rivez Reihana (Crusaders) departing in the off-season.

McKenzie’s replacement

Ioane is on the bench for this clash as McMillan has opted to give youngster Josh Jacomb a chance in the fly-half shirt.

“It’s an awesome opportunity for Josh Jacomb who gets his first start in a Chiefs jersey, not only through Damian’s absence but as a reward for the hard work he has put in to get to this point,” the head coach added.

“We believe he can develop into something pretty special and can’t wait to see him run the cutter this week.”

Two All Blacks do return with Anton Lienert-Brown and Samisoni Taukei’aho named in the starting line-up following their rest week, but McKenzie is the player that makes them tick.

During the games that he has gone off early – against the Crusaders and Highlanders – the Chiefs have gone from leading comfortably to then suffering a nervous finale.

McMillan, who called it “purely coincidental”, will hope that trend doesn’t continue and they don’t hand the defending champions the kick-start they need.

“No one is accustomed to seeing them start a season as they have, but in our view that makes them a dangerous beast,” he said. “They have a lot of quality people down there and know they have the capacity to improve quickly. The challenge is to ensure it’s not against us.

“We are far from the finished product ourselves, where we have fluctuated between moments of brilliance and others that are sometimes short of our own expectations.

“But I love how this group own that, and there is no better opposition to see if the lessons learned can be applied quickly and effectively. It should make for another great game.”

Chiefs side to take on Crusaders

Chiefs: 15 Shaun Stevenson, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Quinn Tupaea, 11 Etene Nanai-Seturo, 10 Josh Jacomb, 9 Xavier Roe, 8 Luke Jacobson, 7 Kaylum Boshier, 6 Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 5 Josh Lord, 4 Manaaki Selby-Rickit, 3 George Dyer, 2 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 1 Aidan Ross
Replacements: 16 Bradley Slater, 17 Jared Proffit, 18 Reuben O’Neill, 19 Jimmy Tupou, 20 Simon Parker 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 Daniel Rona

Date: Friday, March 29
Venue: Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch
Kick-off: 19:05 local (06:05 GMT)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Dan Waenga (New Zealand), Mike Winter (New Zealand)
TMO: Aaron Paterson (New Zealand)

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