Israel Dagg is still hanging on to his dream to play for the All Blacks at the World Cup despite being sidelined for the next three months.

Superb one week, mixed the next. The Crusaders are not alone in that form fluctuation though they have less tremors than most teams.

Stats guru Tracey Nelson crunches the numbers ahead of this week's Super 15 action.

Herald rugby writer Dylan Cleaver breaks down the six Super 15 matches taking place over the next three days.

Get the inside word on the odds ahead of this week's Super 15 action.

The Crusaders could be without fullback Israel Dagg for up to six weeks after he tore a quadricep muscle in the win over the Stormers in Cape Town.

Stats guru Tracey Nelson lists the key numbers ahead of this week's Super 15 action.

Herald rugby writer Wynne Gray breaks down the seven Super 15 matches taking place over the next three days.

The Crusaders will be without All Blacks first-five Dan Carter for a fifth straight week.

All Blacks prop Ben Franks is remaining with the Crusaders squad but is in doubt to make the flight to South Africa suffering a back injury.

Despite losing Richie McCaw to the bin for 10 minutes the Crusaders managed to close out a victory over the Force last night.

Your betting guide to all the rugby action over the next three days.

Stats guru Tracey Nelson crunches the numbers ahead of this week's Super 15 action.

Richie McCaw will return to the Crusaders team in their Super 15 match against the Western Force in Perth on Saturday night.

Highlanders winger James Paterson believes the Blues pose as much if not more of a threat than the Crusaders.

Crusaders first-five Dan Carter's indicated he's still more than a week away from being able to take the field in Super 15.

The southerners continued their Super 15 rugby resurgence tonight with upsetting the in-form Crusaders 26-18 at Trafalgar Park in Nelson.

Join us at nzherald.co.nz for live scoring of tonight's Super 15 and NRL matches.