Rugby: The King returns in time to face Stormers

SBW makes a break during the Crusaders' 36-8 defeat of the Sharks. Photo / Getty Images

The Crusaders welcome back All Black captain Richie McCaw ahead of their semifinal against the Stormers in Cape Town, but doubt now surrounds the national captain-in-waiting.

Kieran Read, seen as McCaw's natural successor to lead the All Blacks, strained his ankle in the first half of Saturday's convincing, albeit disjointed, 36-8 win over the Sharks.

He continued in the second half, scoring a game-sealing intercept try and piecing together his strongest performance of the campaign.

However, once he cooled down the ankle began to trouble him and will be monitored throughout the week.

The webbing in Sonny Bill Williams' left hand, which split during the match against the Reds in round 15, opened up again, but is not expected to affect his availability.

Of their front-line players, only Israel Dagg remains sidelined.

It is the return of the king that is most anticipated, though, with McCaw having endured a season more stop than start, with just five appearances so far.

He first showed his face in round nine after suffering a stress fracture in his foot during pre-season training.

McCaw then succumbed to concussion symptoms, before his foot started to play up again.

(In fact, feet seem to be the medical appendage du jour, with Sean Maitland, Tony Woodcock and, now, Anthony Boric, all succumbing.)

"My foot feels a lot better. It's still not 100 per cent but it's better than it has been," McCaw said yesterday as the team readied for its odyssey.

"It's good to be back before the season's over."

McCaw said the team could take some confidence from their 20-14 victory over the Stormers at Newlands in round 12, though he acknowledged that finals footy was a different beast.

That gutsy victory in hostile territory was made all the more remarkable because the Crusaders lost most of their backline before halftime.

Kahn Fotuali'i and Maitland, who returned against the Sharks on Saturday, Adam Whitelock and Israel Dagg all went down in a brutal encounter.

The likelihood of another muscular match places further emphasis on the status of Read. The 30-test All Black thrives on confrontation.

"Reado loves playing those big South African teams," wing Zac Guildford said. "He was awesome [against the Sharks]. He won our players' player."

The returning Williams was the game's most dangerous attacking player, Maitland looked all class after his long lay-off, but Guildford admitted that after a bounce-back season, his own performance was well short of where he wanted it to be.

"I couldn't get my hands on the ball, which was pretty frustrating. I've been pleased with my form this year but was pretty disappointed with that performance, to be honest."

His best chance to shine was after Williams put midfield partner Robbie Fruean into space. Fruean's pass, a touch high, was dropped cold by Guildford.

"We weren't too pleased with how the whole game went. We can play a lot better than that. At halftime Toddy [Blackadder] told us to keep our composure, that their defensive line was starting to crack if we could hold on to the ball for a few phases.

"But we're not happy with our performance, we need to be a lot better to have a chance against the Stormers."

The Crusaders flew to Sydney yesterday on Emirates after their Qantas flight was cancelled because of the Chilean ash cloud. They spent the night in Australia and will arrive in Cape Town tomorrow morning (NZ time).

Asked if the team was sick of the constant travel, Guildford had a pragmatic answer: "The travel is long and we would have rather had a home semifinal, but we've made it hard on ourselves by not winning enough games during the season."