Dylan Cleaver: Little and large both in with a chance

Andy Ellis of the Crusaders. Photo / Getty Images

They're the classic cliched odd couple. Little and large.

Best mates Andy Ellis and Wyatt Crockett are also, arguably, the two players who have undergone the greatest transformation this year.

Injury layoff aside, Ellis has been superb sniping behind a strong Crusader pack, his wet-weather performance last week against the Hurricanes comparing favourably to anything Jimmy Cowan, Fourie du Preez or Will Genia has put on the park.

Ellis is no novice, having played 17 tests, but there has always been a nagging suspicion he was picked for the All Blacks more for who he wasn't, rather than what he was.

In 2007, for example, he was the bolter in the World Cup squad almost solely on the basis that he wasn't Piri Weepu and all that entails.

Subsequent selections have confirmed the notion that the 27-year-old is a "good tourist"; an excellent squad member who gives total effort and, to put it bluntly, is not a pain in the posterior when he's not selected.

Unless he breaks a leg, Ellis will make the World Cup squad this year and this time it will all be down to ability.

Crockett is no guarantee to make that squad, though.

Hailing from Nelson, the 28-year-old loosehead is approaching his peak as a prop, but it's a matter of whether past sins can be forgotten.

It was Crockett who had the misfortune to run into wily Italian Martin Castrogiovanni on debut. The Argentine-born prop made Crockett's life a misery that day and, although he has added two further caps to his total, the perception remains that his scrummaging technique is vulnerable under duress.

That might prevent his selection for the World Cup squad, but it won't alter the fact that 2011 has been a breakthrough year for Crockett. He gave up drinking pre-season and has dedicated himself to the gym.

His penalty count has dropped dramatically and his improvement can be defined by a tour de force performance in Cape Town where he scrummed like an ox, scored tries and tackled himself to a standstill. It was the performance of a lifetime.

If the Crusaders win tonight they'll jet off to Cape Town and he'll need to pull out another one just like it.

* There has been a lot of angst this week about crowd figures, spurred by a slow uptake of tickets for this weekend's elimination finals.

While there are intangibles at play, such as poor weather and the need to save pennies for World Cup tickets, it is still tempting to say you reap what you sow.

Super rugby in New Zealand is so tailored for television, there really is little point making the effort to go to the ground. Aside from those who live close by, getting to Eden Park for a 7.30pm Friday kickoff can be a nightmare, especially if it's wet.