Crusaders crisis deepens as former All Black prop hit with ban
The Crusaders will be without former All Black prop Owen Franks after his illegal cleanout in the dying stages of the loss to Hurricanes has been sanctioned.
The 36-year-old received a yellow card on the field for a dangerous cleanout on lock Justin Sangster as the Hurricane was retreating from the ruck.
Franks became engulfed in a scuffle with openside Du'Plessis Kirifi who took exception to Franks' high shot which stopped play.
The on-field yellow card was later upgraded to red which meant Franks had to face a judiciary hearing for foul play.
SANZAAR's foul play review committee charged Franks with dangerous play at a ruck and maul and handed him a two-game suspension, ruling him out of crunch derbies with the Blues and the Chiefs.
Should he complete a head contact course, Franks could recieve a one-week reduction and by eligible for the Chiefs rematch.
Rob Penney has a new headache to deal with this week as Franks joins captain Scott Barrett sidelined with a finger injury, Tamaiti Williams, loose forward Ethan Blackadde and hooker Codie Taylor as All Blacks out of action.
Joe Moody might be available after suffering from Covid last week.
The Blues host the Crusaders on Saturday night at Eden Park with Rob Penney's side looking to avoid five losses in a row to start the season.
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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