Super Rugby Pacific: Crusaders rally around under-siege coach Rob Penney before must-win clash with Blues

The Crusaders have leapt to the defence of under-fire coach Rob Penney, as they prepare to try and salvage their Super Rugby Pacific season against the table-topping Blues on Saturday.

With a miserable record two wins and 10 losses in his first year in charge, Penney's future has been under the microscope and his C-bomb jibe at a reporter on Thursday has only intensified that scrutiny.

Assistant coach James Marshall admits he found the footage from that now infamous presser difficult to stomach and immediately reached out to Penney in support.

"I gave him a call after I saw the video, just to check and make sure he was okay," Marshall said on Friday.  

"It was one of those moments. Your blood sort of boils a little bit watching the pressure that he was put under in that video.  

"Obviously he was pretty gutted with the way he handled it towards the end and got caught that little slip at the end of it. But he's fully focussed on what his job is this week."

With their backs against the wall against their old foes in a genuine do-or-die match at Apollo Projects Stadium, Marshall believes the incident has helped galvanise the squad leading into Saturday's high-stakes showdown.

"Everyone's behind him, everyone's supported him and I feel like it's almost brought the group together that little bit tighter," he said. 

"We know the pressure he's under, and we know the pressure everyone's under. We're just so desperate to put a performance out there on Saturday night to show everyone that what we are capable of."

Veteran hooker Codie Taylor echoes those sentiments, noting some of the blame for Thursday's incident should lie with the media.

"It's an unfortunate event, but I thought Rob held himself really well," said Taylor.  

"He's a man of great character. It was just something that could have been handled a lot differently from both sides, I think.

"It's high-performance sport and you take on a role like that and don't get results and any normal human being would be under immense pressure, and I think I feel like he's handled that really well.  

"The fact that he can come in every day and be the same person, just shows how much character he actually has and how much he really loves this team."

Taylor insists the onus for their poor performances should lay on the players themselves rather than Penney and his staff.

"They do their best every week for us to perform. If anyone's going to sort of have questions about what we're doing on the field, then it should be at the players.

"The results haven't gone our way. But that's no reflection of what Rob has been trying to do and create in this environment, and I think he's done a great job." 

Winning is often a surefire antidote in such situations. The Crusaders need to beat the Blues and hope other results go their way to keep their title defence alive, and Taylor says the team know exactly the gravity of their predicament.

"We're very, very aware of what's on the line tomorrow. For us, it's a final, right? If we don't get the job done, then we're pretty much we're done for the season.  

"A lot of focus on how we're going to play and perform and it's time to get out there and do it."

Marshall added: "If we made a run from here it would be pretty special. I'd imagine people would quieten up pretty quickly as well."

The Crusaders have leapt to the defence of under-fire coach Rob Penney, as they prepare to try and salvage their Super Rugby Pacific season against the table-topping Blues on Saturday.

With a miserable record two wins and 10 losses in his first year in charge, Penney's future has been under the microscope and his C-bomb jibe at a reporter on Thursday has only intensified that scrutiny.

Assistant coach James Marshall admits he found the footage from that now infamous presser difficult to stomach and immediately reached out to Penney in support.

"I gave him a call after I saw the video, just to check and make sure he was okay," Marshall said on Friday.  

"It was one of those moments. Your blood sort of boils a little bit watching the pressure that he was put under in that video.  

"Obviously he was pretty gutted with the way he handled it towards the end and got caught that little slip at the end of it. But he's fully focussed on what his job is this week."

With their backs against the wall against their old foes in a genuine do-or-die match at Apollo Projects Stadium, Marshall believes the incident has helped galvanise the squad leading into Saturday's high-stakes showdown.

"Everyone's behind him, everyone's supported him and I feel like it's almost brought the group together that little bit tighter," he said. 

"We know the pressure he's under, and we know the pressure everyone's under. We're just so desperate to put a performance out there on Saturday night to show everyone that what we are capable of."

Veteran hooker Codie Taylor echoes those sentiments, noting some of the blame for Thursday's incident should lie with the media.

"It's an unfortunate event, but I thought Rob held himself really well," said Taylor.  

"He's a man of great character. It was just something that could have been handled a lot differently from both sides, I think.

"It's high-performance sport and you take on a role like that and don't get results and any normal human being would be under immense pressure, and I think I feel like he's handled that really well.  

"The fact that he can come in every day and be the same person, just shows how much character he actually has and how much he really loves this team."

Taylor insists the onus for their poor performances should lay on the players themselves rather than Penney and his staff.

"They do their best every week for us to perform. If anyone's going to sort of have questions about what we're doing on the field, then it should be at the players.

"The results haven't gone our way. But that's no reflection of what Rob has been trying to do and create in this environment, and I think he's done a great job." 

Winning is often a surefire antidote in such situations. The Crusaders need to beat the Blues and hope other results go their way to keep their title defence alive, and Taylor says the team know exactly the gravity of their predicament.

"We're very, very aware of what's on the line tomorrow. For us, it's a final, right? If we don't get the job done, then we're pretty much we're done for the season.  

"A lot of focus on how we're going to play and perform and it's time to get out there and do it."

Marshall added: "If we made a run from here it would be pretty special. I'd imagine people would quieten up pretty quickly as well."

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