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ANALYSIS By Jamie Wall of RNZ It was somewhat fitting that the Crusaders’ season officially ended in Lautoka. Never mind that it was in a game that they weren’t even playing in, but it was back in round three, in the stifling humidity of Churchill Park, that they really began to fall apart. It marked three defeats in a row to start the season, a slump they never recovered from, which meant that a sombre Crusaders CEO Colin Mansbridge faced the press while his counterparts at the Hurricanes, Blues, Chiefs and Highlanders all started making plans for this weekend’s playoffs.

Mansbridge refused to say whether coach Rob Penney would be retained and that the season would go through a review process with an external company. While that’s clearly the correct business procedure, it does feel a little redundant given that ninth place, four wins and 10 losses after seven straight title-winning seasons really does say everything you need to know. But this is what the review probably will reveal – along with a ton of internal feedback that will likely never be uttered outside the walls of the Crusaders’ facility at Rugby Park in St Albans: Turnover Two very influential players and a top coach leaving – that’s been the usual line as to why the Crusaders have fallen on hard times.



Except the exact same thing happened to the Hurricanes, who arguably had a steeper mountain to climb given the reigning World Player of the Year skipped this season and their new coach had never h.

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