{"id":387325,"date":"2024-04-23T01:15:32","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T01:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=387325"},"modified":"2024-04-23T03:03:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T03:03:16","slug":"prime-ministers-rallying-cry-as-the-unthinkable-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=387325","title":{"rendered":"Prime minister's rallying cry as the unthinkable looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of world sport's most remarkable dynasties is crumbling but the New Zealand prim\ufeffe minister is refusing to throw in the towel.<\/p>\n

The Crusaders<\/a>, who had won seven straight Super Rugby titles before this season, are unfathomably \ufeffstaring at the wooden spoon after losing to the previously last placed Force on Saturday.<\/a><\/p>\n

The loss of charismatic coach Scott Robertson to the All Blacks<\/a> – and the absence of champion players Sam Whitelock, Richie Mo'unga, Will Jordan and Scott Barrett \ufefffor various reasons – has left the Crusaders a shadow of their previous formidable selves.<\/p>\n

Watch all the action from the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season,<\/strong><\/em> with<\/strong><\/em> every match ad free, live and and on demand on Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Sevu<\/p>\n

Such is the crisis, Kiwi PM Christopher Luxon \ufeff- a staunch Crusaders fan – issued a rallying cry to fellow supporters after Cabinet.<\/p>\n

"Keep the faith, it's not over until it's over," Luxon told reporters in Wellington.<\/p>\n

"Yes, it's been a disappointing run so far, but we're just warming up. Trust us, we'll get there to the playoffs.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Gould reveals 'exhausting' issue Arthur can't fix<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'World's gone mad' as AFL scraps key fitness test<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> WADA whacks 'disinformation' in doping scandal<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

"We win nice or we win ugly, but we win because it's the story of the Crusaders and that will continue I'm sure. Don't you worry, they're going to get there."<\/p>\n

But ex-Wallabies Morgan Turinui and Stephen Hoiles disagreed, saying the club's finals hopes were now "done".<\/p>\n

The Crusaders sit six points off the playoff pace.\ufeff<\/p>\n

NEW PODCAST! Sean Maloney, Morgan Turinui and Stephen Hoiles celebrate two strong Aussie wins and ponder the Crusaders woes<\/strong><\/em>\ufeff<\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/between-two-posts-1\/reds-shutout-force-fortress-crusaders-crumble\/embed?style=Cover<\/a><\/p>\n

"\ufeffThey're just below par across the board," Turinui said on Stan Sport's Between Two Posts<\/em>.<\/p>\n

"Their catch pass skills, which have been the standard of Super Pacific since its inception, are just bizarrely off. It's the greatest team in the history of Super Rugby. The best provincial team there's been.<\/p>\n

"It's an anomaly year. I think they're done."<\/p>\n

\"Beale's<\/p>\n

Hoiles "naively assumed" the Crusaders would be able to cope with an exodus of top shelf talent \ufeff"because of the production line" in Christchurch.<\/p>\n

"New Zealand rugby in a hole. Huge hole," he joked.<\/p>\n

"I'm happy to say they're done."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of world sport's most remarkable dynasties is crumbling but the New Zealand prim\ufeffe minister is refusing to throw in the towel. The Crusaders, who […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":386568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387325"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=387325"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":387330,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387325\/revisions\/387330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/386568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=387325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=387325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=387325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}