Scott Robertson, rightly in the frame as the next All Blacks coach, is facing up to one of the most important weeks of his coaching career.
He's had a few already during his previous two years at
the Crusaders but just about the only thing he has yet to achieve with the team is a win over the Hurricanes in Wellington.
In 2017, the Crusaders became the first overseas team to win a Super Rugby final in South Africa when they beat the Lions seven days after beating the Chiefs in Christchurch in their semifinal. The Lions had the luxury of sleeping in their own beds all week after accounting for the Hurricanes in their sudden death match.
Last year, the Crusaders lost two games in a row against the Hurricanes in Wellington and the Highlanders in Dunedin. That was in March. They didn't lose another in sweeping all before them, including the Lions in the final in Christchurch in August, before crashing back to ground in Sydney last weekend.
But for all the pressures associated with those matches; the bouncing back from rare defeats and winning sudden death matches with a mixture of cold-blooded efficiency and an almost care-free panache not normally associated with finals rugby, nothing compares to what Robertson and his side are going through at the moment.
Another defeat to the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday would represent the defending champions' worst run under Robertson. (It would also be their third loss in Wellington in three years).
