Rugby: Crusaders calm before the storm

Serge Lilo of the Blues is tackled by George Whitelock and Owen Franks of the Crusaders. Photo / Getty Images

They have never gone three Super Rugby seasons without winning a title.

They'll start the season without their talisman and captain, Richie McCaw, and without Sonny Bill Williams who has already marked himself as one of the sport's most destructive gamebreakers.

Cause for a little angst down Crusader Lane, perhaps?

Nah, it's not their way.

"We're pretty happy with where we're at but the proof will be when we take the field on Saturday night," said Dave Hewett, a man steeped in the traditions of Canterbury and Crusader rugby who has joined the fulltime coaching staff this year.

"You can't deny the fact that individually Richie and Sonny are great players," Hewett continued. "It's one of those things: if you've got them, great, but we haven't had them all pre-season and it's not as if we've lost them overnight. We've prepared all pre-season with the guys who are going to take the field and we're confident they're a group of guys that can do the job for us."

It's not as if McCaw's influence in particular won't be felt. He might be more comfortable in a moon-boot than a footy boot following surgery on his foot, but he'll be back soon enough, chipping away at trainings while he sees out his six to eight-week rehabilitation.

"He's a great asset from the coaching staff's point of view."

Hewett has filled a variety of roles at Canterbury rugby since returning from Edinburgh, where he played for Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder.

"Coaching wise, my responsibilities have previously revolved around scrums but this year I've taken on more areas of responsibility.

"There's certainly more pressure but I enjoy the environment, coaching with Todd Blackadder and Daryl Gibson and learning from them."

While all three are versed in the Crusader way from their playing days, overseas experience has prevented their thinking becoming too set along a certain path.

"It's helps you evolve," Hewett said of his Northern Hemisphere sojourn. "We were talking to Tim Bateman this morning and the experiences he has gained in Japan are going to make him a better rugby player and a better person.

"It's the old adage of broadening your horizons. When you go overseas on your OE you realise the way we live isn't the only way to do it.

"We all learned something different when we were away. Toddy and I were in Edinburgh together and we've come back with different ideas on the same subject."

One subject Hewett has clear ideas about is the scrum. A late bloomer, he played the first of his 22 tests aged 30, has been in charge of what Blackadder described as the best scrum in the competition for the past three years and has some powerful cattle to work with.

The Franks brothers Owen and Ben continue to amaze Hewett with their work ethic.

"It's not just in the gym," Hewett said. "There's no doubt about it, from a professional rugby point of view, I haven't seen people train or be as dedicated to the cause as both of those boys are - to the point where they sometimes have to be told to ease off and give themselves a break.

"They support their training with good nutrition, good recovery. They don't put silly stuff in their body in terms of drinking and junk food.

"They train hard and support their training by looking after their bodies so they can continue to train hard. Not only that but they do a lot of the micro-work around training - do the front-row technique stuff, catch and pass, tackle technique."

Owen will start at tighthead against the Blues tomorrow night, Ben, who was invalided out of the All Blacks Grand Slam tour with a neck injury, from the bench.

Partnering Franks and hooker Corey Flynn in the front row is Wyatt Crockett, who endured a difficult year as he too often became the target of referees ire.

"Every player has technical issues they need to work on and that's just the reality of the professional environment.

"Wyatt has had issues around penalties, but he is dedicated to getting it right," Hewett said.

"Sometimes he doesn't get it right and holds his hand up when that's the case. But something that the referees have to be aware of is that there are two people involved when he's scrummaging, him and the tighthead he's up against.

"Wyatt may have been penalised but we need to make sure referees aren't just looking at one individual."

Hewett said Crockett had to work even harder than most on his technique because at 1.93m, he is taller than the average prop (Owen and Ben Franks are 1.83m and 1.85 respectively).

"A shorter prop can get away with some inefficiencies because the lever mechanisms aren't so long, so there's not as much chance for them to go down.

"The front row is a battle of centimetres, not feet or metres as it is in the backs."

Which has a nice symmetry for one of the great rugby cliches: that success and failure can be separated by a matter of inches.

Seven times the Crusaders have fallen on the right side of that line. They're overdue for an eighth.