New All Black-in-waiting Braydon Ennor has been promoted into the Crusaders starting line-up, replacing Ryan Crotty in the midfield for Saturday's Super Rugby final against the Jaguares.
Ennor and lock Mitchell Dunshea are the only changes to the team that ran out against the Hurricanes in last week's semi-final victory, with injured internationals Crotty and Scott Barrett side-lined for several weeks with hand injuries.
Centre Jack Goodhue will move out a spot to make room for Ennor, while Dunshea will combined with captain Sam Whitelock in the second row, leaving former All Black lock Luke Romano to his accustomed impact role off the bench.
"Luke's an exceptional closer or finisher," said coach Scott Robertson. "He comes on, he's very experienced.
"He's tough and brutal, as we know, but his game understanding and game management is a great way for him to add to the leadership group and the players on the field at the time."
Ennor shaded veteran Tim Bateman in the centres, but Robertson noted he had been selected for the All Blacks as wing and midfield cover, and had performed admirably whenever his numbers was called.
His combination with Goodhue has been identified as the future of the Crusaders backline, with Crotty moving offshore after this year's Rugby World Cup.
"They're both young guys, but they've done a lot of work throughout the year, so we've got full support for them," said Whitelock.
"Mitch and I haven't played a lot of rugby together, but we've trained a lot together and known each other for a few years now. The best thing I can do and he can do is go out and play our natural games.
"Mitch is tough, he's ready to go and has been waiting for an opportunity like this for a couple of years now. He's pretty excited."
Crotty's injury and impending departure means he's already played his final game for a team he's represented more than 150 times.
"'Crots' has been awesome," said Whitelock. "He's lead really well for the past few years and he's had to wear a different hat this week.
"That's not easy, going from being out to train and play, and then all of a sudden, you're helping someone else to do that.
"He understands what needs to be done, he's seen other people do it in the past and he's had a great week, leading in a different way."
Crusaders: 1-Joe Moody, 2-Codie Taylor, 3-Owen Franks, 4-Mitchell Dunshea, 5-Sam Whitelock, 6-Whetu Douglas, 7-Matt Todd, 8-Kieran Read, 9-Bryn Hall, 10-Richie Mo'unga, 11-George Bridge, 12-Jack Goodhue, 13-Braydon Ennor, 14-Sevu Reece, 15-David Havili
Reserves: 16-Andrew Makalio, 17-George Bower, 18-Michael Alaalatoa, 19-Luke Romano, 20-Jordan Taufua, 21-Mitchell Drummond, 22-Mitchell Hunt, 23-Will Jordan
Jaguares: 1-Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2-Agustin Creevy, 3-Santiago Medrano, 4-Guido Petti, 5-Tomas Lavanini, 6-Pablo Matera, 7-Marcos Kremer, 8-Javier Ortega Desio, 9-Tomas Cubelli, 10-Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, 11-Ramiro Moyano, 12-Jeronimo de la Fuente, 13-Matias Orlando, 14-Matias Moroni, 15-Emiliano Boffelli
Reserves: 16-Julian Montoya, 17-Mayco Vivas, 18-Enrique Pieretto, 19-Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 20-Tomas Lezana, 21-Felipe Ezcurra, 22-Domingo Miotti, 23-Sebastian Cancelliere
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