Both the Crusaders and the Hurricanes have named a six-two forwards-backs split on their benches, in keeping with a trend in the world game which allows for teams to name two extra loose forwards for additional impact.<\/p>\n
Damian McKenzie was able to cover halfback as well as first-five and the outside backs, and Leroy Carter\u2019s was also flexible. But Robertson, who also had Cam Roigard capable of consistently going the distance in the No.9 jersey, didn’t follow the lead of South Africa or even England, whose coaches showed more imagination during his reign.<\/p>\n
Fainga\u2019anuku\u2019s power near the breakdown is a constant threat for the Crusaders who have battled to break teams down this season and his excellent performance against the Waratahs<\/a> under the roof in Christchurch last weekend persuaded Penney to continue with the experiment.<\/p>\n Looking further afield, Highlanders midfielder Timoci Tavatavanawai could do a similar job, as could the Hurricanes\u2019 own Fehi Fineanganofo, a wing who scored four tries at the weekend and is odds-on to break the competition\u2019s try-scoring record this season. Hurricanes midfielder Jordie Barrett also has plenty of experience in the position (including during the 2023 World Cup final where he effectively played both after Sam Cane\u2019s dismissal).<\/p>\n Wing Fehi Fineanganofo scores one of his four tries for the Hurricanes against the Brumbies during the recent Super Round in Christchurch. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n Such is Laidlaw\u2019s ball-carrying depth at loose forward \u2013 Brayden Iose, Devan Flanders, Peter Lakai, Brad Shields, Du\u2019Plessis Kirifi et al \u2013 that he already has sufficient options and, as he said to the media yesterday, the game\u2019s fundamentals remain the same despite the number on a player\u2019s back.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not as convinced the number on your back is the difference,\u201d Laidlaw said when asked about Fainga\u2019anuku\u2019s move. \u201cA 6-7-8 or a 12-13, it\u2019s often the job you\u2019re asking them to do on the field. His role doesn\u2019t change hugely. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen he\u2019s 7, yes he\u2019s on the scrum but he\u2019s playing on the edge, defending on the edge and picking and going \u2013 he\u2019s been doing that all season when he\u2019s had 13 on his back,\u201d Laidlaw said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not surprised they\u2019re continuing with that because it gives you another back around the loose and he\u2019s not needed at lineouts. It gives you an extra ball player and his power gives them a real threat. We\u2019ll be well aware of that but we generally felt \u2013 whether he\u2019s at 13, wing or 7 \u2013 it\u2019s kind of the same problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Laidlaw\u2019s clear-eyed analysis is one of the reasons why his team have lost only twice this season and favoured to beat the defending champions tomorrow to overtake the Chiefs into first on the table.<\/p>\n They have the deepest squad in the competition, in-form strike weapons across the park, and one of the best game directors in Ruben Love.<\/p>\n Love, clearly relishing an extended spell in the No.10 jersey, will play his 50th match for the Hurricanes tomorrow and is maturing into a hugely influential playmaker.<\/p>\n He still has plenty to learn before consistently taking that influence to the international level but the 25-year-old, who has world-class Roigard and Barrett alongside him, is learning the art of restraint in the knowledge that sometimes less is more.<\/p>\n Last weekend, Love did not overplay his hand during the 45-12 drubbing of a Brumbies<\/a> team who thrashed the Crusaders in Christchurch earlier in the season and rightly so because with the in-form Billy Proctor, plus Fineanganofo, outside him he doesn\u2019t have to. <\/p>\n The Hurricanes have had two major slip-ups this season \u2013 their defeat to the Fijian Drua in atrociously wet conditions in Lautoka in February and their extra-time 22-17 loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton, a match they were unlucky to finish second in<\/a>. One assumes they learned a huge amount from both setbacks.<\/p>\n They have already thrashed the Blues in Wellington and are playing with a confidence that suggests they will be too good for a Crusaders team who rediscovered their mojo<\/a> during the weekend\u2019s super round <\/a>but who are not playing with the consistency that suggests they will keep it for an extended period.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku\u2019s successful move from midfielder to starting loose forward is a triumph of his adaptability and Crusaders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406305,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[33339,17909,56380,49155,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-406304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-blues","tag-chiefs","tag-crusaders","tag-hurricanes","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406304","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=406304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Wing](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wing-fehi-fineanganofo-scores-one-of-his-four-tries-for-the-G6T4SCNE3RDH3DGSX4MLYDXJ4Q.jpg\")
<\/p>\n