{"id":391782,"date":"2026-04-22T08:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T08:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/391782\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T08:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T08:12:11","slug":"all-blacks-midfielder-set-for-new-loose-forward-role-at-crusaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/391782\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks midfielder set for new loose forward role at Crusaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

As if there wasn\u2019t enough interest in the Crusaders\u2019 opening game at their sparkling new stadium on Friday night, head coach Rob Penney has thrown fuel on the fire by selecting All Blacks back Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku to start at openside flanker.<\/p>\n

Fainga\u2019anuku, a wing or midfielder, has long said he is open to a move to the pack after playing at loose forward during his two-year stint at French club Toulon and now his wish to be considered a \u201chybrid\u201d player is closer to fruition.<\/p>\n

Another leg injury for Ethan Blackadder has helped Fainga\u2019anuku make his case but Penney still had the option of starting Johnny Lee in the No.7 jersey. Tasman player Lee, who had an impressive debut for the Crusaders last month, has been named on the bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cI played there a few times in France\u2026 it\u2019s a position I\u2019m familiar with,\u201d Fainga\u2019anuku said after his team\u2019s training run at Te Kaha today. \u201cHaving the ability to adjust and offer that service \u2013 I\u2019m prepared and ready for the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bit more fun in the forwards \u2013 you get to do a bit more of the dirty work instead of the flash stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a forward that can do things backs can do \u2013 it\u2019s a good growth area for our game.\u201d<\/p>\n

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie will be one of many interested to see how the 26-year-old copes with the transition.<\/p>\n

Fainga\u2019anuku, however, was reluctant to look further than this \u201cSuper Round\u201d weekend which will feature 10 of the 11 Super Rugby Pacific teams (minus the Force).<\/p>\n

There is real pressure on the Crusaders, who lost to the Force and the Reds in Australia over the past fortnight, to beat the Waratahs, and not only for the need to start their tenancy at their new home<\/a> in the right way.<\/p>\n

The defending champions are currently sixth on the table and in danger of losing ground to the seventh-placed Waratahs with five rounds remaining after this one. The top six make the playoffs. Significantly, a defeat to the Sydney-siders will mean the Crusaders have lost to all four Australian teams this season.<\/p>\n

Penney did not shy away from the importance of a \u201cmust-win\u201d match.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably two weeks ago it started to feel like must-wins,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve struggled a little bit\u2026 there\u2019s not one thing [wrong]. I\u2019ve mentioned before, we\u2019re leaking too many points. We\u2019re scoring enough. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur balance in our game\u2019s not quite right but we\u2019ve got a great group and they\u2019re working really hard\u2026 this may be the thing we need to bring us some momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Penney said Fainga\u2019anuku had long pressed his case for a move to the forwards and now felt like the right time.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeicester has been keen to explore that opportunity more and more,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Force celebrate their victory over the Crusaders in Perth at the weekend. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought [starting] in this stadium was an apt place. He\u2019s played in big stadiums before \u2013 big pressure moments. He loves the limelight and wants to be part of it. This felt like a good time against an opposition where he could add real value.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is clear that the Crusaders see Fainga\u2019anuku\u2019s explosive ball carrying around the fringes as a potential point of difference. <\/p>\n

He has already proven to be loose-forward like in his ability over the ball at the breakdown and his dynamism with the ball could put an inconsistent team on the front foot. A potential vulnerability will be the requirement to keep his discipline if called upon to defend lineout drives.<\/p>\n

The Crusaders are the only side to have training access to the new stadium this week. Not surprisingly, all concerned were impressed with the replacement to their rickety old \u201ctemporary\u201d arena on the city fringe they called home since the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve done a heck of a job, that\u2019s for a sure,\u201d Fainga\u2019anuku said. \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful. I think it\u2019s an awesome representation of the region. This place has become the heart of the city and I think it\u2019s something that our people deserve. It\u2019s a big weekend for \u014ctautahi.”<\/p>\n

Hooker Codie Taylor said: \u201cI love the fact that they\u2019ve really thought about it and gone all out. It\u2019s just a place that can bring Christchurch together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crusaders team to play Waratahs<\/p>\n

At Te Kaha on Friday, kick-off 7.05pm<\/p>\n

1. Finlay Brewis, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Fletcher Newell, 4. Antonio Shalfoon, 5. Tahlor Cahill, 6. Dom Gardiner, 7. Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku, 8. Christian Lio-Willie, 9. Noah Hotham, 10. Taha Kemara, 11. Macca Springer, 12. David Havili \u00a9, 13. Braydon Ennor, 14. Sevu Reece, 15. Johnny McNicholl.<\/p>\n

Reserves: 16. George Bell, 17. George Bower, 18. Seb Calder, 19. Jamie Hannah, 20. Johnny Lee, 21. Kyle Preston, 22. Rivez Reihana, 23. Dallas McLeod.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As if there wasn\u2019t enough interest in the Crusaders\u2019 opening game at their sparkling new stadium on Friday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[789,56380,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-391782","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-all-blacks","9":"tag-crusaders","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}