Crusaders celebrate fitting finale afer 100th win at Apollo Projects Stadium, but already eyeing tough Australian tour

Monday, 6 April 2026

The celebrations were in full cry in the Crusaders’ dressing rooms after the 11-try fitting farewell to Apollo Projects Stadium, but coach Rob Penney was already looking ahead.

Penney was preparing to partake too when “the boys might have a couple of quiets’’ - he even had a commemorative can brewed for Codie Taylor’s 150th match in his top pocket when he spoke to The Press after the 69-26 rout of the Fijian Drua last Friday.

The Crusaders had certainly earned a beer to toast Taylor’s four tries in his milestone match, a 100th win at the old Addington arena and a third victory in a row in their push for the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs.

Penney’s troops took an age to get back to the sheds after mingling with fans on the field for the final time at Apollo before the much-awaited move to the new One New Zealand Te Kaha Stadium at Anzac weekend.

They were still enjoying each other’s company in the inner sanctum Portakabin an hour later when a rousing haka broke out.

“The boys will have a lot of fun here and there'll be a lot of emotion,” Penney said. “It’s the last time we're going to be around these surrounds and we head off into the special Te Kaha.”

You could sense how much the occasion meant as All Blacks prop Tamaiti Williams - out for the season and fresh from hospital with a serious back infection - joined the group. So did All Blacks Scott Barrett - still on his Super Rugby sabbatical - and injured back rower Cullen Grace.

And how the near-capacity crowd - did not seem to want to go home.

Penney said the Crusaders were touched by how long their supporters stayed.

“It’s amazing how much support this team gets. Just talking to some people who’ve been around a while… Easter Friday’s not usually a big crowd puller with people going on holiday. To see that many people turn up in the stadium is just a great credit to the people who love the team and the pulling power of the team and the way they play.

“It was sublime rugby at times. They play with a spirit that’s undeniable.”

Penney described the night as “pre-ordained”. Captain Will Jordan said “in some ways we thought the stadium might go out with a cold, wet drizzly night, [but] it was probably the best night we’ve had here for a long time”.

Taylor said “it all lined up”, noting it was “Holy Week”.

The All Black hooker was humbled to have “my oldest two [children, aged nine and seven] got to speak to me in front of the lads” on match-day, “which made me realise how special it is that I get to do what I do”.

There were also “a lot of messages from former Crusaders “old boys’’, Joe Moody, Luke Romano and Andy Ellis among them, “legends of this time”.

“I’m proud to have a milestone like that and to be rubbing shoulders with those guys and what they've done.”

It all added up to a perfect scenario script for Taylor and team. No wonder a toast or two was being raised.

But Penney said the celebrations would not last too long. “They’re mature around it these days, it’s not like it used to be. It’s a credit to them that they don’t unleash more regularly.”

Penney and Jordan both said the team was mindful they have a tough two-match tour to Australia against the Reds on Saturday and the Force in Perth a week later.

“You live in the glory of this a day too long, [then] the Reds will just spank us and then we will wake up,’’ Penney said.

“One good thing the coaching group does, at the start of the week we just re-set to zero. We celebrate what we need to celebrate, but look forward early and hard and make sure we’re hopefully, mentally on song for the week ahead.

“The Reds are a fantastic side, as we know, with danger across the park. If you’re not where you need to be, they’ll hurt you.”

Jordan also noted “Perth’s been a really tough place for the Crusaders to go”, but he believed the tour “comes at a good time for us. We’re trending in the right direction and hopefully we can keep the ball rolling.”

The night belonged to everyone - but especially Taylor and the Addington audience.

“It’s hard to script it better,’’ Jordan said. “Codie’s somebody who cares deeply about the people around him. I think you saw that when he runs out with his family how much his family means to him, and this team as well.

“He’s someone who leads by example, we just follow in behind him. [It’s] definitely a really special night at a stadium he’s got a lot of great memories at and a lot of milestones.”

The Crusaders will enjoy the most modern stadium in Australasia at Te Kaha, but there’s something about Apollo they will miss - fans swarming on the pitch.

“That’s been the beauty of this ground,’’ Jordan said. “The Crusaders have done a great job opening up the park and getting fans on the field,really close to the action. Not sure if that will happen in the next stadium or not, potentially not. We’ll miss seeing kids in amongst their heroes…

“This team’s always been about the people, and it’s great to put a performance on for them.”