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Watch: Crusaders wing Leicester Fainga'anuku produces early contender for try of the year
By Sam Smith
Rising Crusaders star Leicester Fainga'anuku has produced an early contender for the try of the year with an acrobatic effort in his side's Super Rugby Aotearoa clash against the Chiefs in Christchurch.
After being awarded a scrum near the visitors' 10 metre mark about five metres from the right-hand sideline, the Crusaders spun the ball to the left, with halfback Mitchell Drummond finding midfielder David Havili who was standing at first receiver.
After throwing a dummy to catch the Chiefs' defensive line off-guard, he 26-year-old sped through gap created through a misread by centre Sean Wainui.
Left wing Etene Nanai-Seturo fell victim to Havili's offload, which proved costly as the three-test All Black burst downfield into open space.
With Chiefs playmakers Bryn Gatland and Damian McKenzie closing in on him, Havili threw a long pass out wide to the supporting Fainga'anuku on the touchline on the 22 metre mark.
The youngster had a clean run to the line, but McKenzie put on the afterburners to narrow in on Fainga'anuku as he closed in on the left-hand corner.
With McKenzie breathing down his neck, Fainga'anuku launched himself towards the line in a gravity-defying effort before colliding with the Chiefs fullback in midair.
The impact of McKenzie's covering tackle left Fainga'anuku's legs sprawled out and the moment looked to have forced one of his boots into touch.
However, the Crusaders powerhouse managed to plant the ball on the ground just shy of the sideline in-goal to cap off a breathtaking try.
Multiple replays were used to check if Fainga'anuku's foot had indeed strayed out of play, but TMO Brendon Pickerill saw no clear evidence to overturn the on-field decision.
The try cut the Chiefs' lead in half to 10-5, and the Crusaders have gone on to take a 11-10 lead into half-time.
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Look there are a few unarguable facts here that are very clear. SARU was close to bankruptcy with SR, bailed out by the Lions and they need the URC and EPCR. Inclusion of SA teams in URC has been a great for for ALL concerned, from a rugby perspective and financially, moreover there is massive growth yet to come. The GP is in financial trouble and this will be the catalyst for EPCR change to further cement the Boks.
If this all plays out with even greater rewards for the urc AND the Top14 & GP via EPCR, the 6N will become 7N. Nz and Aus NEED to get their version firing with Japan & the PI’s, otherwise they will find themselves increasingly regressing…
Go to commentsPerofeta came back and was available for the eoyt right? Or was that why Love was in the squad (but got injured in the last week)?
It was such a frustrating year. Perofeta looked a service stop gap until Jordan was fit, but then got injured. Plummer was selected because of Pero's injury and dmac shat the bed in the second half in Australia but Clarke (?) got himself binned at the 65 min mark so Plummer couldn't come on (at least with the risk adverse Razors thinking) when he was planned to.
So many other exciting opportunities that could have happened without injuries, but then theyre probably balanced by knowing Sititi probably wouldn't have been given a chance without multiple injuries happened.
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