The Crusaders - Super 12 Rugby's best team. Here's a little info on the Crusaders. After a game between North and South Canterbury on Saturday July 26 1879, the Canterbury Rugby Football Union was founded, beginning a rugby history that has been steeped with success ever since. Canterbury won the Ranfurly Shield for the first time in 1927, and then went on to amass a record breaking Ranfurly Shield reign between 1953-56 (23 challenges resisted) and a record equaling reign between 1982-85 (25 challenges resisted). Canterbury has encountered a great deal of success in New Zealand's domestic competitions, winning NPC First Division titles in 1977, 1983 and 1997. In 1998 the Canterbury Crusaders broke the two-year winning streak of the Auckland Blues to win the U-Bix Super 12 for the first time, creating another great moment in the history of Canterbury rugby. In 1999, they came back from the dead to steal it from the Otago Highlanders 24-19. In 2000, they won 20-19 over the ACT Brumbies.
Crusaders inspirational captain, Todd Blackadder. Watch him, this man WILL be the next All Black captain. 
Andrew Merhtens, the All Black flyhalf, and leading points scorer in Super 12 history. www.crfu.co.nz 
Lancaster Park (now Jade Stadium) home of the Crusaders. Seats 36,000, and groundbreaking on new stands will commence soon. |
