Rugby: It won't be just any old game in Nelson

Todd Blackadder. Photo / Getty Images

If this was any old round three Super 15 match there would be no need for the Crusaders, built as much on resilience as brilliance, to bring in a mental skills coach.

If it was just a run-of-the-mill contest there would be no need for the Waratahs to call a meeting early in the week to formulate a plan to combat what is expected to be an emotion-charged start to the match.

If it was any old match it wouldn't have been moved 400km north; it wouldn't involve charter flights; and it wouldn't be the most talked about rugby game of the year.

The Crusaders versus the Waratahs is no ordinary game.

nzherald.co.nz will have livescoring of tonight's game from 7.35pm

It's a match-up of two tournament favourites, one who has done all it has been asked of so far to justify the favourites tag, the other whose season was temporarily stalled while its players and management dealt with an epic disaster that has, in different ways, touched them all.

There's talk of sport being a healing force, but that's just it - it's talk. The Crusaders know it and the people of Canterbury know that a resumption of rugby hostilities will do nothing to ease the burden of those affected by last Tuesday's massive earthquake.

At the same time it is foolish to think the emotion of the past fortnight, and that associated with the remembrance of the 29 miners who lost their lives at Pike River, won't hang heavy over the match. Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder knows his players want to ramp it up and play for their fans who are hurting. He also cautioned that if the Crusaders hoped to win on emotion alone, they would come second.

Take away the tragic backdrop to the match in Nelson tonight, moved from AMI Stadium due to the damage to that ground and to Christchurch's infrastructure, and you still have a potentially terrific game. The Waratahs have been the best side in the opening two rounds, something alluded to by All Black prop Wyatt Crockett who described them as the "form team" of the competition.

"Their forward pack has been doing a really good job for them getting some good quality ball and obviously out wide they've got a lot of class."

This is not the first Waratahs side who have started like a train. The problem is, those in light blue before them have flattered to deceive when the crunch comes.

Even after two rounds, this team looks different. They've still got the flash out wide but the soft centre is not so obvious. They look to their skipper for lessons in fortitude. Flanker Phil Waugh was on the point of being ruled out for the season, it seemed, after tearing a tendon in his bicep. The next minute he was announcing he would start against the Crusaders.

A story surfaced comparing him favourably to Red Conway, the All Black loosie who had the third finger of his right hand amputated so it wouldn't cause him problems on the 1960 tour to South Africa. It's a bit of a stretch, there will be no hacksaw involved in Waugh's rehabilitation, but it is a measure of how badly he wants to be involved that he has set aside long-term personal welfare to be at Trafalgar Park.

Like we said, it's not any old game.