Rugby: Crusaders set to reveal decision on team name and new logo

Crusaders horses provide the pre match entertainment during the match between the Crusaders and the British & Irish Lions in 2017. Photo / Getty Images.

The Crusaders and New Zealand Rugby (NZR) will today announce the outcome of the Crusaders Brand Review.

The calls to change the name and branding came after the March 15 shootings at two Christchurch mosques.

Many felt the name 'Crusaders' was innappropriate after the attacks, since it comes from 'the Crusades' - a series of religious wars in the Middle Ages between Christians and Muslims.

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and the Crusaders will hold a press conference at Rugby Park in Christchurch at noon to reveal what the team will be called from 2021, and the new logo to replace the one already scrapped by the Crusaders.

Regardless of the decision made today, the "Crusaders" name will remain in 2020, the final year before Super Rugby re-launches as a 14-team competition, and the expiry of the Crusaders' current license agreement with NZR.

The team will play under a "holding brand" next year. Gone is the knight and sword, replaced solely by the "Crusaders" wordmark.

"Like all good things, there has been a bit of constructive tension and different opinions around the table, but it's as joint as you could get it to be," Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge told Stuff.

Mansbridge said he knew the looming decision wouldn't please everyone but has canvassed many views across the last eight months from fans, sponsors and various stakeholders.

"I suspect we're the most expert people now, given the breadth of perspective that we've been able to gather," Mansbridge told Stuff.

"How do we help a community heal? How do we help a community grow? How can we divide it less, and how can we accept that we can't please everyone all the time?

"How can we do all of those things but get to the best place, not the right place or the wrong place?"