Injuries continue to derail Crusaders star Ethan Blackadder's career, with the latest hiccup ruling him out of the rest of the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs.
After struggling with a calf niggle most of the season, Blackadder's return lasted just five minutes in their quarter-final win over Fijian Drua on Saturday.
In what looked like an innocuous collision, he limped off the field with a quad injury, with the extent of the damage revealed on Wednesday.
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson has confirmed the loose forward will miss "many weeks", cutting his Super Rugby season short.
It also casts doubt over his All Blacks aspirations, with Ian Foster to announce his squad for the Rugby Championship on Sunday.
It's a huge blow for Blackadder, having been ruled out of the 2022 international season with a serious shoulder injury.
Robertson sympathises with Blackadder, with his shortlived cameo against the Drua exemplifying exactly what the team will miss at this business end of the season.
"Ethan is out for quite a while with a quad injury," he said. "Many weeks…I'm not sure about that [All Blacks] but he won't be here the next few weeks.
"He strained his quad, he did a good job as Ethan tends to do. It was around that period, or a run after that, it was in that sequence.
"We really feel for him, he trained so hard to get back and just a couple of touches in those four minutes was pretty amazing. It shows what we've missed. He's such an important member of our squad."
The Crusaders host rivals the Blues on Friday in the first of the Super Rugby semi-finals, with their task made that much harder by Blackadder's absence.
But you won't find Blackadder, his teammates, or his coach feeling sorry for themselves as they chase a record-extending title.
"As a squad and as a team, I stand up in front of the group and talk about how we're all Crusaders, it's a team effort," Robertson said.
"Whoever comes in will step up and they have. We always make sure there's a touchpoint with a player that's been injured, we've played a tough game, it's a physical game and we're going to get injuries - they're going to come.
"You're going to get great runs, acknowledge it, and then move forward. You don't want to start making excuses.
"Any Crusaders team that's named will rise up to the occasion. It's going to be a hell of a weekend, it's got that feeling about it, doesn't it?
"It's the crowd, the milestones on both sides, it's huge, and it's just one of those games you want to play in."
