Former All Black Rene Ranger has signed for the Crusaders as injury cover for their Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign.
The ex-Blues star had been playing in the US with Colorado Raptors in Major League Rugby, before the 2020 season was suspended due to COVID-19.
The six-time All Black has since moved back to New Zealand and featured for Northland in last year's Mitre 10 Cup.
Ranger has tallied 76 appearances for the Blues in two separate stints with the Auckland-based franchise. His last Super Rugby outing was with Japan's Sunwolves in 2019.
The 34-year-old utility is expected to fill-in for the opening rounds of the competition to cover the injured George Bridge and Manasa Mataele.
Josh McKay has also been brought in to bolster the backline, that has also lost Braydon Ennor to an ACL injury.
McKay's three-year deal with the Highlanders ended last season.
