It feels a bit mean to enjoy the Crusader's pain so much; but heck - they won 7 in a row so they've had plenty of joy in seasons past.
this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2024
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The simple answer might be cohesion; they haven't lost too many players that are as hard to replace as the Crusaders have. Really only Ardie Savea - and in a way that's as much of a blessing as a curse because they've got 3 players all of whom can play No 8 as well (Devan Flanders, Brayden Iose and Peter Lakai) and when Du'Plessis Kirifi is fit they have a really well balanced loose trio.
They just look like a team with great cohesion at the moment and that's without some good midfielders - Bailyn Sullivan & to a lesser extent Peter Umaga-Jensen but with Billy Proctor & Jordie Barrett as starters they're able to manage those injuries quite well.
On top of that, they look really fit, which as a generalisation you'd assume comes from having a former 7s coach as the new head coach, and I think their lineout is looking well coached at the moment thanks to Bryn Evans joining the coaching group this year too.
Of the 5 kiwi teams probably only the Chiefs are looking quite as stable, but i'd say they're missing the influence of Retallick & Weber more than the Hurricanes would be missing Savea.