Todd to captain Crusaders


Flanker Matt Todd will captain the Crusaders against the Hurricanes in their final regular season game in Wellington on Saturday.

A home quarter-final is already secured, but the result of this weekend's game will help to determine whether the Crusaders will host the Sharks or the Highlanders at AMI Stadium in Christchurch next Saturday.

Head coach Scott Robertson has named some of the All Blacks who have returned from the British and Irish Lions series this week, including Wyatt Crockett at looshead prop, Luke Romano and Scott Barrett as the starting locks, Kieran Read at number eight, Israel Dagg at full-back and Sam Whitelock on the bench.

Jack Goodhue, who along with Todd, were included as injury cover in the All Blacks squad, will also take a starting spot.

Jerseys 11 and 12 will be filled by two of the award winners from Tuesday's Crusaders Awards evening. Wing George Bridge was named the Crusaders Rookie of the Year, while inside centre David Havili was named as the Crusaders Player of the Year.

A new award – the 'Champion Crusader of the Year' – was presented to Tim Bateman in recognition of his outstanding off-field and on-field contribution to the team.

Crusaders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Seta Tamanivalu, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 David Havili, 11 George Bridge, 10 Richie Mo'unga, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Matt Todd (c), 6 Jordan Taufua, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Michael Alaalatoa, 2 Ben Funnell, 1 Wyatt Crockett 
Replacements: 16 Andrew Makalio, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Oliver Jager, 19 Sam Whitelock, 20 Jed Brown, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 Mitchell Hunt, 23 Sean Wainui

Date: Saturday, July 15
Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 19:35 local (07:35 GMT)
Referee: Glen Jackson
Assistant Referees: Brendon Pickerill, Angus Mabey
TMO: Glenn Newman

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