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NAFI TUITAVAKE will have Julian
Saveas powerful palm on his mind
when the Crusaders take on the Hur-
ricanes at AMI Stadium tonight.
Te Crusaders wing hopes he
wont nd himself laid out by a fend
from the incumbent All Black, but
said he will be ready to deal with
whatever is thrown at him.
Coming against the best youve
just got to be on your game, and dont
play too much in your head, he said.
Tuitavake will be responsible for
marking Savea, who he said was a
great player. Stopping Savea from
scoring will be crucial to the chances
of the Crusaders winning, he said.
Savea has only scored once this
season, but that is still one more than
any of the Crusaders back three.
Tuitavake said nding an answer
to their backline woes was a matter of
adding things together week by week.
Were working on just keeping
the ball and trying to focus on some
quick ball for the backs to play with,
he said, Were not trying to think
too much, just get out there and do.
In spite of the Hurricanes being
the one New Zealand side to have
had a worse start than the Crusaders,
Tuitavake know this wont be an easy
win for the home team.
No doubt the Canes will be rear-
ing to go. Teyve got nothing to
lose, and we wont be taking them for
granted, he said.
Tuitavake, younger brother of for-
mer All Black Anthony, will be mak-
ing his fourth start for the Crusaders.
He said there wont be any nerves,
unlike the last time he ran out on
AMI Stadium, making his debut in
round two against the Chiefs.
Everyones made me feel so wel-
come. Everyones just been real good
and it feels like a good family, he
said.
Tonights game is captain Kieran
Reads 100th, and luckily he will get
to celebrate it at home, with this the
Crusaders only game at AMI Stadi-
um in an eight-week stretch.
Coach Todd Blackadder said the
occasion would be really special for
Read and the team.
He ies under the radar, but prob-
ably what youve seen these last cou-
ple of years is hes really bringing that
leadership. Hes still got a lot of poten-
tial and a lot of ability and its going
to be really exciting for him, he said.
Blackadder also added his voice
to the growing chorus criticising
scrums, calling them a blight on the
game.
Its just reset, reset, reset, isnt it,
he said.
Asked whether he had considered
getting behind the scrum machine to
see what it feels like, Blackadder de-
murred.
I look at the scrums now and
think we must have played in the
golden age, he said.
Te Crusaders have named the
same starting lineup for the rst time
this season.
Te only change from the side that
beat the Rebels 25-19 in Melbourne
a fortnight ago comes on the bench,
where prop Tim Perry has a ham-
string strain, so has been replaced by
Daniel Lienert-Brown,
Teams:
Crusaders Wyatt Crockett, Ben Fun-
nell, Owen Franks, Luke Romano, Sam
Whitelock, Luke Whitelock, Matt Todd,
Kieran Read (c), Andy Ellis, Colin Slade,
Johnny McNicholl, Tom Taylor, Ryan
Crotty, Na Tuitavake, Israel Dagg. Re-
serves: Codie Taylor, Daniel Lienert-
Brown, Nepo Laulala, Dominic Bird, Jor-
dan Taufua, Mitchell Drummond, Kieron
Fonotia, Nemani Nadolo
Hurricanes Ben Franks, Dane Coles,
Jeery Toomaga-Allen, Jeremy Trush,
James Broadhurst, Faili Levave, Jack
Lam, Blade Tomson, TJ Perenara,
Beauden Barret, Julian Savea, Tim Bate-
man, Conrad Smith (c), Alapati Leiua,
Andre Taylor. Reserves: Ash Dixon,
Chris Eves, John Schwalger, Mark Red-
dish, Ardie Savea, Billy Guyton, Matt
Proctor, Marty Banks.
Chris Rattue, p30; Super Rugby, p31
Winging it against the Hurricanes
!"#$%&
Crusader na
1ulLavake (le)
wlll go head-
Lo-head wlLh
Purrlcane wlng
!ullan Savea.
PC1CS: MA81ln
Pun1L8 Anu
PACLn PCklnS