Crusaders and All Blacks outside back Will Jordan is facing up to a long spell on the sidelines due to a shoulder injury.
An update on Jordan’s issue is due to be provided by the Crusaders this week but 1News understands the 25-year-old could require surgery which will rule him out for the season.
If so, it would be a huge blow to the defending champions and a player badly affected by migraine-related symptoms which kept him out for most of last year’s Super Rugby season.
Fortunately for Jordan, he bounced back to play a starring role at the World Cup in France, where he scored eight tries, equalling the World Cup record alongside Jonah Lomu, Julian Savea, and Bryan Habana.
Jordan isn’t the only Crusader facing an uncertain short-term future due to injury.
Loose forward Ethan Blackadder’s bad luck has also continued, a calf injury likely to keep him out of his team’s first game of the season against the Chiefs in Hamilton on Friday night at least.
Blackadder, called into the World Cup squad but given few opportunities in France, has had a horrendous run with leg and shoulder injuries over the last couple of years.
Fullback Leigh Halfpenny, the former Wales international, suffered a serious chest injury early in the Crusaders’ pre-season defeat to Munster, with new coach Rob Penney having to go deep into his squad even before the season has started.
They will take the field at Waikato Stadium with a new-look backline following first-five Richie Mo’unga’s move to Japan, with Taha Kemara, 20, and Rivez Reihana, 23, in line to wear the No.10 jersey. Canterbury first-five Fergus Burke has an Achilles injury and is out until April.
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