Crusaders hard act to follow

The odds are that Mangatainoka will host another Super Rugby pre-season match next year.

Chief organiser, Nick Rogers from Tui Breweries, can't say it will happen for certain but he reckons the chances are better than 50-50 after the huge success of the Hurricanes v Crusaders match last Saturday when a sell-out crowd of 8000-plus was in attendance.

"Straight after the game I had all sorts of people asking me when next year's game will be, and that even includes the Hurricanes," Rogers said yesterday.

"Obviously it's too early to say anything definite but, yes, it probably will happen again."

Rogers agrees the Crusaders will be a hard act to follow. Their history in Super Rugby is incredible and Saturday's line-up included a good muster of players who were part of the All Blacks World Cup-winning side.

"You know when you have the Crusaders what you are going to get, just the thought of having them in the region gets people excited," Rogers said. "Not many sports teams have that sort of aura about them."

Rogers is also considering the possibility of the Hurricanes hosting one of the off-shore teams at Mangatainoka next time round, either from Australia or South Africa.

"It wouldn't really matter who it was, any overseas team would have the Hurricanes fans out in droves to get behind their side," he said. "And it would give the whole experience a different flavour, wouldn't it?"

And how did Rogers rate the Hurricanes in their 19-8 loss to the Crusaders?

"Honestly I thought they did well, there are a couple of areas they need to work on but overall it was promising, at least they seem to be heading in the right direction."