The Crusaders have been dealt another cruel injury blow with Joe Moody's Super Rugby season over due to an ankle injury but, unlike some of his even less fortunate teammates, he could still make this year's Rugby World Cup.
The Crusaders confirmed this afternoon Moody had undergone surgery to repair a damaged tendon in his ankle after injuring it playing against the Blues earlier this month.
The surgery is expected to sideline the Crusaders prop for approximately eight weeks.
Moody is the fourth front-rower at the Crusaders to go down this season, joining fellow All Blacks Fletcher Newell (foot) and George Bower (knee) on the sidelines along with Finlay Brewis (neck) who is also out.
Unlike Newell and Bower, as well as winger Sevu Reece, Moody could still run out for the All Blacks at the World Cup which starts in September.
It's a frustrating blow for Moody regardless though with a serious foot injury in his 100th Crusaders game in 2021 ending that season and a ruptured ACL in April last year also restricting his playing time to just 11 games in the past two seasons.
In the meantime, the Crusaders have had to go deep into the propping pool for another replacement and have brought in former Chiefs prop Reuben O’Neill, who has spent a pre-season with the Crusaders in the past.
"He's a great scrummaging prop, he's fitted straight in, he's come back from a bit of a layoff from playing some club footy, he was familiar to us so that's why we went for him,” head coach Scott Robertson said.
Robertson said they're adding another prop to their roster as well to help Tamaiti Williams and Oli Jager - the only two props left standing from the start of the season.
“I can't tell you who it is because he hasn't arrived or anything, we haven't signed it off. He's played a lot of footy, and he's come from overseas, he knows his way around a rugby field.
“It's incredible, we've worked real hard to find who is available in propping stocks... I've been talking to a lot of agents, they are a rare breed. They are precious. You need them. You don't have a game of rugby without a front row and a ref.”
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