Stephan Greeff
Melbourne’s eminent entry into the Super Rugby club took another step in the right direction when the Rebels showed they truly belong.
Although the Rebels lost 14-19 to the seven-time champion Crusaders, they attracted a crowd of 13,013 for the first ever Rugby Union game at the new state of the art stadium in Melbourne.
The Crusaders will be wearing specially designed GPS systems in this weekend’s pre-Super 15 Rugby warm up against the Reds.
While Richie McCaw has been awarded a two-week holiday pass from the Super 15, Brad Thorn will be expected to slap on the body armour for the Crusaders’ first match, against the Blues at Eden Park on February 19.
Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder has revealed that just two of his All Blacks will be on prescribed resting plans in the new Super Rugby tournament for the Rugby World cup later this year.
If the Crusaders players can persuade their jumbled body clocks to forgive them the tortuous regime of the last few weeks, the New Zealanders have a famous victory within their grasp in Soweto this weekend.