Former All Blacks prop Owen Franks is returning to the Crusaders next season and is hoping to both challenge the club’s up-and-coming front rowers and learn from them.
Franks, 35, played more than 150 matches for the Crusaders and will replace Oli Jager, who is returning to Ireland to play for Munster.
The tighthead veteran, who played 108 Tests, last represented the Crusaders in 2019. He is the fifth most-capped player (153) behind Wyatt Crockett, Sam Whitelock, Kieran Read and Andy Ellis in franchise history.
Franks left to play for English side Northampton four years ago, and recently completed a stint with French club Toulouse.
“It’s quite surreal, really,” Franks said today. “A couple of weeks ago I was in France and it was most likely that things were going to wrap up. I made the decision to come home and be around the family. When this opportunity came up it was a no-brainer.
“The France experience was great – I was playing some good rugby and Toulouse is an outstanding club. I had an opportunity to stay on, but the kids were itching to get back to school and the wife to work back here so we made the decision to come back.
“To string together seven Top 14 games over there in what I would call a brutal competition was great for my confidence as a front rower. Everyone knows what the scrums are like over there and I held up my end reasonably well.”
Franks said retiring from playing was a possibility before the Crusaders made their timely offer. He said he owed Jager “a coffee” as a result.
He will join a talented front row line-up which includes All Blacks Fletcher Newell, Tamaiti Williams and George Bower, along with former All Black Joe Moody.
Newell and Williams, both aged 23, represented New Zealand at the recent World Cup and have big futures.
“Everyone could see their development before I left and that they were on the cusp," Franks said. "They were touted as having exciting futures. To see them both take their opportunities by the horns… it’s exciting. I hope to come back and learn off those guys.”
But while veteran midfielder Ryan Crotty, who is also returning to the Crusaders after a stint overseas, recently said he was conscious of not taking opportunities from younger players, Franks said that didn’t apply to him as much.
“I can see where he’s coming from but I think it’s really important as a young player to step over some boulders on the path, sometimes. I’ve got no problem with being stepped on but I’ll push those younger guys as hard as I can.”
Franks, who had a two-year stint at the Hurricanes after his Northampton sojourn, made his Canterbury debut in 2007 under new Crusaders head coach Rob Penney.
He made his Crusaders debut a year later.
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