Tom Christie is ready to fill the large void left behind star Crusaders back-rower, Ethan Blackadder for their Super Rugby Pacific semi-final against the Chiefs on Friday.
Christie's opportunity comes after Blackadder dislocated his shoulder in their knockout win over the Reds, which prematurely ended the All Black's season with the perennial title contenders.
Blackadder has been integral to the Crusaders' campaign and was voted player of the year at their annual awards evening.
But Christie is relishing the chance to fill the large boots of his teammate, and in particular, his head-to-head clash with Sam Cane, should the All Black make an appearance from the bench.
"You never want to see one of your mates get injured," said Christie. "Ethan's a huge part of this team so it is bittersweet, but it does bring opportunity as well.
"That's the nature of rugby sometimes - you never know when the opportunity is going to come or how it's going to come.
"To be starting in the semi-final is a great opportunity, so I'm looking forward to it, walking towards it and ready to attack this weekend.
"You always want to be playing the best and that's the true test of how good of a rugby player you are. You never want to go out there and face a second-strength team, you want to be playing their best team, then we can really earn it and get the job done that way."
The fixture will also serve as Crusaders coaches, Scott Robertson and Jason Ryan's 100th game in charge of the Christchurch outfit.
Christie heaped praise on the pair, and believes his success can be put down to their work with him on and off the field, which has been evident in the lead up to their match against the Chiefs.
"I'm incredibly lucky that my entire Crusaders career has been both under Razor and Jase. I wouldn't be the rugby player I am now without the coaching of those two," he said.
"They've both got amazing ability to coach and teach others, I am pretty fortunate the way my career has worked out.
"It's good to play New Zealand teams again, we've become accustomed to it the last couple of years. We know we can expect anything, they're going to throw something different and something we're not expecting.
"It's a matter of doing the best preparation as we can, coming up with a plan and then going out there and executing it.
Robertson echoed Christie's comments and admits their 24-21 loss to the Chiefs in March has been resonating within the camp all week.
"It's a firm reminder that a team like that on their day can test anyone," said Robertson. "Any Kiwi team can effectively have their moments that can change games. We've reminded each other from the last game.
"You've got to play everyone and you've got to beat everyone. Whoever is next week is next week and that's the great thing about finals footy.
"There's always a little bit of deep sighing moments. 'Have you done enough?' 'Have you prepared the boys well enough?'. My mind goes pretty deep anyway but probably more than others.
"I think the Queensland game on the weekend was physical enough as a reminder. They treated it as an Origin match and it felt like that. It was much more physical than the week before."
Join us at 7pm, Friday for live updates of the Crusaders v Chiefs Super Rugby Pacific semi-final
