Five changes for the Crusaders to play the Force

Crusaders head coach Rob Penney has made five changes to his team to play the Western Force at home in Christchurch on Saturday afternoon.

After an impressive 43-19 win over the Queensland Reds, they have decided to switch up their back row while All Black Braydon Ennor returns at centre.

Last week’s bench selection Corey Kellow has been moved to the starting side at blindside, replacing Cullen Grace, while Tom Christie returns to the team at openside replacing Ethan Blackadder, who is named in the reserves.

Fixture

Super Rugby Pacific

Crusaders

Force

In other changes, young flyer Macca Springer gets the chance on the left wing to start.

“Tom’s [Christie] been a part of the Crusaders through a magnificent run of championship winning series and he epitomises a Crusader man’s values and with his work ethic,” says Penney.

“We are very fortunate with the calibre of the backs that we have here, and Braydon [Ennor] is just another piece to the puzzle, he’s got some unique abilities which will be awesome for us this week,” says Penney.

“Ball in play is consistently higher, it’s an awesome spectacle – Super Rugby Pacific has been wonderful this year, but the fatigue factor is massive. Listening to the All Blacks coming back in – they’re all commenting on how tough it is.

“The outcome of that has caused fatigue which causes more opportunities for attack.”