Rugby: Injury crisis hoists rookie into Crusaders vanguard

By WYNNE GRAY

A halfback crisis has hit the Crusaders, with Justin Marshall injured in the countdown to the Super 12 semifinal against their Highlander neighbours.

Marshall has damaged his calf and with understudy Aaron Flynn out carrying a similar injury, the Crusaders have turned to NZ Colt halfback Ben Hurst.

Hurst, son of former All Black Ian Hurst, was drafted into the Crusaders last year as backup when Marshall suffered his Achilles problem.

Tomorrow night in Christchurch will be the biggest match of the 21-year-old's career unless Marshall makes an unlikely recovery.

That sort of revival was beyond Highlanders' tighthead prop Kees Meeuws who failed a fitness test on his damaged leg yesterday, leaving the visitors without one of their primary scrum weapons.

The Crusaders have recalled Andrew Mehrtens and Mark Robinson to their backline after their injuries and picked Daryl Gibson in midfield where they think he can expose the Higlanders' defence as he did in last year's final.

They believe the defensive screens of Pita Alatini and Romi Ropati can get muddled and that Gibson's strength and offloads could open some chances.

But the absence of Marshall may offset those backline changes.

Hurst was pulled into the squad recently when Flynn was injured and now finds himself in a cut-throat playoff against All Black prospect Byron Kelleher.

Meanwhile, Crusaders skipper Todd Blackadder said his team was edgy but excited about getting to stage two in the defence of their twin titles.

The squad had matured this season but had to be tougher for the rematch against the side they beat 42-36 in round-robin play.

Highlanders captain Taine Randell was also nervous, for different reasons.

The lacklustre work from his side in their past seven games was a significant worry.

"I think it's fair to say we have been an average team in recent games when you compare them to corresponding performances last season," said Randell.

"We have not combined in the backs and the forwards to provide the complete game.

"We haven't operated as a unit."

Across the Tasman, the Brumbies will not name their side until tomorrow and Cats coach Laurie Mains has placed a media ban on his players.

Mains has put his players off-limits to the media this week, though No 8 Andre Vos has been quoted on a website. He said the Cats' 0-64 loss to the Brumbies in their pool game was history.

The Cats were now a vastly different side, he said.

Self-belief had come with a five-game unbeaten run to make the playoffs.

"The Brumbies have been in great form but any team will be reluctant to play a high-risk style under these circumstances. If we are able to keep our defence rock-solid the Brumbies might just come off their game a bit."

Crusaders: Leon MacDonald, Marika Vunibaka, Mark Robinson, Caleb Ralph, Daryl Gibson, Andrew Mehrtens, Justin Marshall, Ron Cribb, Scott Robertson, Norm Maxwell, Todd Blackadder (captain), Reuben Thorne, Greg Somerville, Mark Hammett, Greg Feek. Reserves: Aaron Mauger, Mark Mayerhofler, Ben Hurst, Dallas Seymour, Chris Jack, Con Barrell, Slade McFarland.

Highlanders: Jeff Wilson, Rua Tipoki, Romi Ropati, Marc Ellis, Pita Alatini, Tony Brown, Byron Kelleher, Taine Randell (captain), Josh Kronfeld, Kelvin Middleton, John Blaikie, Simon Maling, Carl Hoeft, Anton Oliver, Joe McDonnell. Reserves: Brendan Laney, Karl Te Nana, Brett McCormack, Paul Miller, Brendon Timmins, Carl Hayman, Tom Willis.

Cats: Thinus Delport, Chester Williams, Japie Mulder, Grant Esterhuizen, Jannie van der Walt, Louis Koen, Werner Swanepoel, Andre Vos, Andre Venter, Johan Erasmus (captain), Jannes Labuschagne, Johan Ackermann, Willie Meyer, Leon Boshoff, Marius Mostert. Reserves: Dean Hall, Boerta Wessels or Hennie le Roux, Jimmy Powell, Walter Minaar, Victor Matfield, Adrian Garvey, Delarey du Preez.