A dislocated shoulder is set to deny Crusaders openside flanker Tom Christie the chance to play the Blues in Auckland on Sunday afternoon.

The Crusaders have confirmed Christie, who was forced to leave the field during the second half of the 39-17 win over the Chiefs in Christchurch last Saturday night, will have to undergo “further investigation and specialist review’’ over the next few days to determine the appropriate management of the injury.

The Crusaders are likely to shift Sione Havili Talitui, who started at blindside flanker against the Chiefs, to the No 7 position.

Cullen Grace, who was forced to miss that game because of sore ribs and was replaced by Whetukamokamo Douglas, is expected to be available to start at No 8.

Blindside flanker Ethan Blackadder, who was also rested because of a head knock, could also be declared fit to meet the Blues.

I hate articles that finish with "more to come". Just write the whole damn article before publishing it.

Any update on Papali’i? Is Choat the only fit 7 this week?

@duluth Haha a position where we have massive depth in and they're all injured at the same time.

@duluth They said something in the comments after the game that McDonald is confident of having a full squad available next week, but surely Papalii will be out.

15,000 tickets already sold as of this morning.

@kiwimurph said in Blues v Crusaders:

15,000 tickets already sold as of this morning.

mostly season ticket holders you'd think. They said the crowd at the weekend was 15k, but it looked more 10ish.

Long range forecast looks great ... and they never change right

Specsavers Referee: Paul Williams
Assistant 1: Mike Fraser
Assistant 2: James Doleman
TMO: Brendon Pickerill

@bovidae said in Blues v Crusaders:

Specsavers Referee: Paul Williams
Assistant 1: Mike Fraser
Assistant 2: James Doleman
TMO: Brendon Pickerill

Oh great.

So the refs don't have the review until Tuesday (if there is a game on Sunday) - but by this stage the refs for the next weekend's games have already been announced? - something is a bit off there.

Ben O'Keeffe has been the best ref so far this year - he should be reffing this game.

Having said that - Williams will be fine - he's a good ref - just not a good TMO!

@kiwimurph said in Blues v Crusaders:

So the refs don't have the review until Tuesday (if there is a game on Sunday) - but by this stage the refs for the next weekend's games have already been announced? - something is a bit off there.

Ben O'Keeffe has been the best ref so far this year - he should be reffing this game.

Having said that - Williams will be fine - he's a good ref - just not a good TMO!

It’s ok Lawrence says that they don’t punish refs for one bad game, or one bad performance. He somehow missed that they same guy fucked up in two games in the same week.
Apparently he had never actually TMO’d before.
That’s a disservice to teams and fans to try someone out in our premier competition isn’t it.

@crucial how is TMOing really any different?

The rules don't change, just you sit and watch and make decision when required.

It should be easier, no split second ones after you have followed the play over 3 mins non-stop, you e
get the benefit of time, TMO shouldn't get it wrong.

There will be stuff they can't see to rule on, but 2 of the howlers on the weekend he had the evidence to make the right decision and got it wrong.

@taniwharugby said in Blues v Crusaders:

@crucial how is TMOing really any different?

The rules don't change, just you sit and watch and make decision when required.

It should be easier, no split second ones after you have followed the play over 3 mins non-stop, you e
get the benefit of time, TMO shouldn't get it wrong.

There will be stuff they can't see to rule on, but 2 of the howlers on the weekend he had the evidence to make the right decision and got it wrong.

I would say that you need to experience going through the processes and not getting flustered or distracted. These guys are used to judging what is right in front of them, not what is on TV like us experts.

@duluth Mark Telea will be hoping he's unavailable Bridge was all over him in the air last time we played

@african-monkey said in Blues v Crusaders:

Mark Telea will be hoping he's unavailable Bridge was all over him in the air last time we played

Yeah, Telea had a shocker last year

I think Narawa might start. He had a very strong second half against the Highlanders and has played plenty at fullback.
The negatives would his lack of experience and sometimes his defence looks off.

I think it's worth the risk of picking Narawa

@duluth if it was up against Bridge I'd play Narawa. If it was up against Leicester I would play Telea.

I'd keep Telea regardless tbh. Think he and the coaching team would have learned a lot last year from that game.

If Dalton Papali’i doesn’t play on Sunday Blake Gibson would be the obvious selection if recovered from his injury.Looking forward to the team selection for this game.

@duluth said in Blues v Crusaders:

@african-monkey said in Blues v Crusaders:

Mark Telea will be hoping he's unavailable Bridge was all over him in the air last time we played

Yeah, Telea had a shocker last year

I think Narawa might start. He had a very strong second half against the Highlanders and has played plenty at fullback.
The negatives would his lack of experience and sometimes his defence looks off.

I think it's worth the risk of picking Narawa

Can someone tell me why Leon is refraining from selecting AJ Lam, Zarn Sullivan or Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens on the bench over Narawa? Pretty sure Narawa played in both of the Blues losses in SRA 2020, he was poor against the Hurricanes in Wellington, making defensive errors and knock-ons, I was really not impressed. Surely the others are better options at this stage?

@kiwi_expat well

Zarn is a 10/15. Blues currently have 3 x 10s in the playing 23.

Kneepkens I imagine you will see very soon. A debut against the Crusaders is a tough ask so probably won't see him this weekend.

Lam I would sense is behind Kneepkens as an option.