Crusaders accept the burden of expectation with equanimity

For the stoic folks in Christchurch it's been long overdue but it's what the rest of Super Rugby has been dreading. Crestfallen for almost a decade, the Crusaders, Super Rugby's most decorated team, are back on their mount.

They had galloped to nine straight wins by the time they ran out at Loftus yesterday. The perennially slow starters arrived here unbeaten but, more to the point, they possess renewed focus under a new coaching staff and an injection of youth.

The mildly eccentric Scott Robertson, who replaced Todd Blackadder as coach, has brought a looser, more free-spirited approach.

It's easy to see. Captain's run, the eve-of-the-match ritual when teams go through their paces without breaking much of a sweat, the Crusaders treat as an opportunity to blow off steam.

On Friday at Loftus they emerged leisurely from the team bus, some wearing flip-flops, others smiling, cracking jokes. It was a mood that, with the help of a boom box (mini speaker), escalated to a boyish boisterousness on the field.

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A race between members of the coaching and support staff further helped create the sense that the Crusaders are having a ball.

They haven't been in Super Rugby's winner's circle since 2008 but assistant coach Brad Mooar dispelled the notion that the class of 2017 was on a crusade to break with the past.

"We are really aware of the history of the Crusaders and the legacy and we want to add and give it due focus. At the same time we have a good spine in the team and some good young players have come into the group," said Mooar.

The experience includes survivors from the team that won nine years ago. Kieran Read, Wyatt Crockett and Tim Bateman are there and Leon MacDonald is on the coaching staff.

You get the sense, though, that the Crusaders under Robertson live in the moment.

"We've just looked at the one in front of us, otherwise you put a bit of pressure on yourself," said Robertson. "You've got to respect your opponent. I know it's clichéd and I don't like to use too many clichés, but it's one game at a time."

Mooar went down the same path. "What we've been really good at is to take each team as it comes, week by week.

"We've built a culture that gives them confidence," said Mooar about the young players.

"It's pretty simple, [we] let them express themselves. The worst thing we can do is clutter them up with really complicated game plans and tactics and whatnot and over-thinking things," said Mooar, who had a stint as assistant coach at the Kings under Matt Sexton a few years ago.

Christchurch has resilient people who are endowed with an accentuated sense of reality. Surely, even the most crusty among them must now have their hopes up?

"There is always expectation and pressure," said Mooar. "There is an expectation to win. We don't avoid or ignore that. We accept that and embrace it. The expectation is to play good rugby and to make people proud."