Richie McCaw will be added to the bench for qualifying final against the Queensland Reds

Richie McCaw will be added to the bench for Saturday night’s Super Rugby qualifying final against the Queensland Reds, Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder has indicated.

Having watched openside flanker McCaw play for his Christchurch club at the weekend after a seven-month break, Blackadder appears satisfied the All Blacks captain will be fit enough to play the Reds at AMI Stadium.

“He got through the weekend all right and he’s really keen to be involved, so that’s encouraging,” Blackadder said.

But despite McCaw’s pedigree, and his desire to be back playing for the Crusaders rather than return to Christchurch for their section two match against the Belfast Cobras at Christchurch Park, Blackadder is unlikely to insert him back into the starting side.

That means the loose forward combination of Matt Todd, George Whitelock and Kieran Read should be retained.

McCaw is expected to be added to the reserves at the expense of Luke Whitelock.

“I think it would be silly to put him in that position [of being expected to start] where he could compromise the team,” Blackadder added.

“While he’s mentally tough, he won’t be physically fit to the level that’s required. He’s a quality player and he’s Richie McCaw, of course, but at the end of the day we’ve still got to put this team first.”

Blackadder said McCaw was keen to stick to his “plan” which appears to have required him to be satisfied with his effort for Christchurch before making himself available for the Crusaders.

“He’s keen and excited to be involved and that’s good. But ultimately that’s our decision.”

Blackadder said the call to select McCaw will probably be made among the coaches tomorrow.

The team will be released on Thursday.

The coach also mapped out a plan of his own when biking to Christchurch Park to watch McCaw in action in front of 2000 fans.

Rather than watch the whole match he preferred to observe McCaw play the final 30 minutes to see how he was coping with the workload as his legs began to tire.

“I didn’t want to go down and watch the first 10 to 15 because I was always interested in his fitness levels at the end of the game. He looked pretty tired which was a good sign because he had given so much.”

Blackadder is also hopeful second five-eighth Tom Taylor will be fit to play the Reds after being forced to leave the field with a head knock in Friday’s win over the Hurricanes.

Lock Luke Romano, who missed that game because of a high ankle sprain, will have a fitness testthis week to monitor his availability.

– © Fairfax NZ News