A temporary stadium built from necessity, now approaching its hundredth win.
When the Crusaders run out at Apollo Projects Stadium this weekend, they will be chasing a number that carries more weight than most milestones in professional sport: their 100th win at a ground that was never supposed to exist.
The stadium was thrown up in the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, a city-shaking disaster that left the Crusaders without a home and the region without much to celebrate. For several years, the team played every match on the road. When Apollo Projects Stadium finally opened — a former rugby league ground repurposed and pressed into service — it became something more than a venue. It became a symbol of a city trying to put itself back together.
Hooker Codie Taylor has been there for all of it. He was part of the wider Crusaders squad when the earthquake struck, lived through the displacement, the travel, the long wait for a home ground. In the years since, he has never played a Christchurch match for the side anywhere else. "I see it as a place that was created to give hope to our city and our region," he said. "It became a place to bring hope and unify the city in a way. Rugby has done that down here. It's a place we love to play at. It's home."
This Saturday, against Fijian Drua in round eight of DHL Super Rugby Pacific, Taylor will also reach his own milestone: his 150th appearance in a Crusaders jersey. Coach Rob Penney was direct about what that means. Taylor, he said, epitomises what it is to be a Crusader — more than 100 Test caps, 150 club games, and still going. The Drua have played at Apollo twice before and lost both times, which does nothing to reduce the occasion's weight.
There is another thread running through the Crusaders' lineup this week. Prop Jack Sexton is set to make his debut — thirty years after his father Matt appeared in the very first season of Super Rugby. Will Jordan starts at fullback and will captain the side. Flanker Ethan Blackadder is absent with a calf injury, meaning Corey Kellow takes the blindside and Johnny Lee starts on the open side.
Elsewhere in the competition, the Chiefs host the NSW Waratahs in Hamilton on Saturday, and they will do so without two notable names: All Black Damian McKenzie and former All Blacks Sevens standout Etene Nanai-Seturo. Josh Jacomb gets another start at first five-eighths, and Kyren Taumoefolau comes in on the wing. Prop Reuben O'Neill will make his 50th appearance for the Chiefs, while outside back Daniel Sinkinson is set to debut off the bench — a player Chiefs coach Jono Gibbes described as a consistent performer both in training and for the University of Waikato Taua development side.
The Waratahs arrive in Hamilton with something to prove and recent evidence that they can do it. Last weekend they knocked over the Brumbies 30-28, and they beat the Chiefs 21-14 in Sydney just last year. But the Chiefs have won their last three home matches against New South Wales, and their last eight against Australian opposition on New Zealand soil. They are also the stingiest defensive team in the competition this season, missing just 18.5 tackles per game — the lowest figure of any side.
The Waratahs will start Teddy Wilson at halfback, with the experienced Jake Gordon held in reserve. Coach Dan McKellar, a former Junior Wallabies captain himself, spoke warmly about Wilson's development — his running game, his defence, and the steady improvement in his kicking and passing. Gordon's presence on the bench gives McKellar options, but the message was clear: Wilson is being trusted to start and to deliver.
For all the tactical intrigue in Hamilton, the story of the weekend belongs to Christchurch. A temporary stadium built from necessity, now approaching its hundredth home victory. A hooker who has never known another ground in his city. A son making his debut three decades after his father helped launch the whole competition. Apollo Projects Stadium was always meant to be a stopgap. It turned into something else entirely.
Notable Quotes
I see it as a place that was created to give hope to our city and our region. It's a place we love to play at. It's home.— Codie Taylor, Crusaders hooker
He's got over 100 Test matches and 150 games for the Crusaders. What a career. And he's still got a wee way to go.— Rob Penney, Crusaders head coach, on Codie Taylor
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a 100th win at a temporary stadium feel like more than just a number?
Because the stadium itself was never supposed to carry this much history. It was built out of necessity after an earthquake, and it ended up holding fifteen years of a team's identity.
What does Codie Taylor's milestone add to that?
He's the human thread connecting all of it. He was there when the earthquake hit, he traveled with the team when they had no home, and he's never played a Christchurch match anywhere else. The stadium and the player grew up together.
The Jack Sexton debut is interesting — a son following a father thirty years later. What does that say about the competition?
It says Super Rugby is now old enough to have a second generation. That's a quiet kind of maturity for a competition that can sometimes feel like it's still finding itself.
The Chiefs are missing McKenzie and Nanai-Seturo. How much does that matter against a Waratahs side that just beat the Brumbies?
It matters, but the Chiefs' defensive numbers suggest the system is bigger than any two players. Eighteen and a half missed tackles per game is a team-wide discipline, not a star's contribution.
McKellar's comments about Wilson and Gordon — is that a coach managing egos or genuine competition?
Probably both. He's saying Wilson is the starter and Gordon is the safety net, but he's framing it as development rather than hierarchy. That's a careful piece of man-management.
Is there something bittersweet about chasing a 100th win at a ground that was always meant to be temporary?
Deeply. The stadium was built to give the city something to hold onto while it healed. Now the city has healed enough to build something permanent, and the farewell is a milestone. That's not bittersweet — that's exactly how recovery is supposed to work.