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'He’s been in more than 3,500 scrums!' Crusaders in awe ahead of Wyatt Crockett’s 200th cap

July 3, 2018

The club has renamed their stadium after Crockett for his 200th game and installed extra seats. (Source: Other)

For one night only, AMI Stadium in Christchurch will be re-named "Wyatt Crockett Stadium" in honour of the Crusaders' stalwart prop, who will bring up his 200th cap on Friday.

Crockett admits in a career of milestone moments, having a whole stadium named after you just about tops the lot.

"It's a huge honour and the Crusaders have been amazing to me for my whole career."

Crusaders CEO Hamish Riach said naming the venue after veteran front rower seemed like the right thing to do.

"Two hundred games is an extraordinary achievement over many, many years and we wanted to acknowledge it with some sort of grand gesture that would mark the occasion."

As the most capped Super Rugby player of all time, his thirteen-season crusade began against the Highlanders way back in 2006.

Coincidentally, he'll meet them again on his 200th game, although he admits he's hoping for less painful memories this time around.

"I got out there and dislocated my thumb," he said while reminiscing about his 2006 debut.

"It was pretty much my first tackle!"

And while he's been slowly clocking up the matches, Crockett has never grown tired of his favourite propping past time.

In fact, scrum coach Jason Ryan is in awe of the sheer number of times Crockett has packed down in the front row in his career.

"He's been in more than 3,500 scrums not including training - that's a lot."

Thousands of extra seats have been added for the southern derby with a Crockett clan of more than forty family and friends set to be in attendance.

Crockett said he felt blessed to share the occasion with them.

"To have the family come down and experience an opportunity where the stadium's named after me is quite nice."

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