Crusaders halfback Louie Chapman counts down 995 days between Super Rugby Pacific games
Saturday, 21 February 2026
Louie Chapman’s return to the Crusaders “995 days’’ after his first cap has been hailed as a triumph of patience and perseverance ahead of Sunday’s first home game of the season against the Brumbies.
The 25-year-old Canterbury NPC winning halfback will be on the bench as All Black Noah Hotham’s deputy with Kyle Preston on a concussion stand-down.
Contrast Chapman on his second cap with grizzled Brumbies prop James Slipper. The Wallabies book-end, 36, is set for his 200th Super game since his 2010 debut with the Reds.
It’s been almost three years since Chapman’s sole start in 2023 against the Hurricanes in Wellington - and he reckons the wait has been worth it.
“I’ve always wanted to add caps,’’ he said. “That one game I played for the Crusaders was such a proud moment for me. [But] I feel like I’ve always had a bit more to give, and I’ve always strived for play for this great team that I care a lot for.
“At the start of the season I did a bit of a count up, with a little help from the AI we’ve got now days, and it spat out 995 this Sunday since that first game.
“[There’s been] a fair bit of waiting for me, but, as I say, that makes me hungrier to go and take that opportunity.”
He got the selection nod from backs coach Brad Mooar on Monday night and said it was “pretty col being able to tell friends and family who’ve been with me on my journey. It hasn’t always been easy watching, so I know there’ll be some excitement.”
Chapman got his first break in 2023 when Hotham was on New Zealand Under 20 duty and Willi Heinz and Mitch Drummond were injured.
Now he is back - as a fulltime squad member for the first time - he is “certainly not going to let it slip’’.
“I do love this region, my family are from here. To persevere wasn’t really a hard decision.”
Chapman believes his game has “come a long way’’ in the last three years, in large part to being “learning off some great minds like Drummy, Willi and obviously Noah and KP [Preston] of recent”.
He is also more confident after Canterbury’s winning season where he got “consistent minutes’’ for the first time in his professional career.
Crusaders coach Rob Penney said it had been “a long time between innings’’ for Chapman. “It obviously means a lot to him the fact that he has been counting.
“Louie’s the heart and soul of the group. Everyone rejoices when players of his perseverance and dedication get an opportunity. It’s come about through injuries to others, but that’s life. He’ll take it with both hands and make it really difficult to leave him out going forward.”
It will be a challenging reintroduction for Chapman against a Brumbies team yet to win at Apollo Projects Stadium but chasing a second victory on the road after a compelling 56-24 comeback win over the Western Force.
“They were impressive in the heat over in Perth against a good Force side,’’ Penney said. “They pulled them apart near the end of the game.
“We are going to have to be right on. We’re back home, and that’s an important place for us. We don’t have too many games at [Apollo Projects Stadium] and we want to make sure we play well for our supporters. We didn’t do it well enough last week [in the first round los to the Highlanders].”
The Brumbies are, arguably, the Crusaders greatest off-shore rivals. The two proud franchises have met in two Super Rugby grand finals, the Crusaders winning 20-19 in chilly Canberra in 2000 and the Brumbies squaring the ledger there, 47-38, in 2004.
Stephen Larkham was at the heart of those great Brumbies teams and now the silky five-eighth is in the fifth year of his second stint as head coach.
Penney has plenty of respect for Larkham’s “pretty complete side”. “They’ve got a big tough group of forwards, highly skilled… some very athletic loose forwards, their back three are very dangerous from broken play, and they’re well guarded by their 9 and 10, who are both very efficient.”
Larkham has named an unchanged squad and said this week “travelling over to New Zealand is tough enough without making changes so a bit of continuity going into that game will give us a better preparation and hopefully a better performance.”
The contest could hinge on who bosses the breakdown where the Brumbies are led by Wallabies star Rob Valetini, backed by towering No 8 Charlie Cale, and the Crusaders are supercharged by Ethan Blackadder and Christian Lio-Willie.
Penney hailed Blackadder’s effort against the Highlanders and said the former All Black’s “contribution, not only on the field but behind the scenes, is wonderful. [With] his presence and his accuracy and his brutality - whatever word you like to use, he was a standout. You need that abrasive element in the group.”
The Brumbies had to contend with a three-hour time difference in Perth and now face another two-hour change in Christchurch.
Larkham was also mindful they have not won in Christchurch for 25 years since the old Lancaster Park days and said Sunday’s clash was “an opportunity to see where we are at’’ against arguably the best team in the competition”.
The Brumbies fixture is the first of three Crusaders games at Apollo Projects Stadium before their shift to the new One New Zealand Te Kaha Stadium in April.
Teams
Crusaders
Will Jordan, Chay Fihaki, Braydon Ennor, David Havili (c), Sevu Reece, Rivez Reihana, Noah Hotham, Christian Lio-Willie, Ethan Blackadder, Dom Gardiner, Jamie Hannah, Antonio Shalfoon, Fletcher Newell, George Bell Finlay Brewis. Reserves: Codie Taylor, Tamaiti Williams, Seb Calder, Tahlor Cahill, Corey Kellow, Louie Chapman, Taha Kemara, Leicester Fainga’anuku.
Brumbies
Andy Muirhead, Ollie Sapsford, Kadin Pritchard, David Feiluai, Corey Toole, Declan Meredith, Ryan Lonergan (c) Charlie Cale, Rory Scott, Rob Valetini, Caderyn Neville, Lachie Shaw, Rhys van Nek, Billy Pollard, James Slipper. Reserves: Liam Bowron, Blake Schoupp, Tevita Alatini, Toby Macpherson, Luke Reimer, Klayton Thorn, Tane Edmed, Hudson Creighton.
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe. TMO: Richard Kelly.
TAB odds: Crusaders $1.22, Brumbies $4.