The Canterbury Crusaders will be without flanker Jordan Taufua for next weekend's Super Rugby final against the Golden Lions after he suffered a broken arm against the Wellington Hurricanes.
Coach Scott Robertson also faced a question mark over backline leader Ryan Crotty and was grappling with a dwindling stock of hookers as he begins to prepare for the showdown in Christchurch.
Injuries aside, Robertson viewed Saturday's semi-final victory over the Hurricanes as a sign his defending champions were tracking well to claim a ninth title, with discipline, defence and the skills of fly-half Richie Mo'unga working as planned.
"We wanted to be really clean and I think we gave four penalties away for the whole game and that's way below average," he said.
"We defended amazingly and its given us a chance of one more week, and Richie's controlling everything. He's got time, he's brave and made some big tackles."
After the Crusaders cruised to a 30-12 semi-final victory, Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd pointed to the strength of their powerful forward pack.
"They just keep putting that pressure on the supply of ball and we had trouble at times at the scrum, we had trouble at times at the lineout, we had trouble at times in the breakdown," he said.
"We couldn't get any go forward to get ourselves rolling."
Even with the loss of Taufua, Robertson has Wallaby international Pete Samu to call on for the starting pack to join seven All Blacks.
Taufua is an All Black in name only. After being selected to play France in the June Tests, he was sidelined by a calf injury in training.
Crotty left the field after a blow to the head and will be monitored in the coming days, while replacement hooker Seb Siataga suffered a broken arm to become the third Crusaders rake to be sidelined by injury this year.
Apart from the venue, next Saturday's final will be a repeat of last year's showdown when the Crusaders beat the Lions 25-17 in Johannesburg to claim their eighth Super crown.
The South Africans, who downed the NSW Waratahs 44-26 in their semi-final, go into their third consecutive final without having won the southern hemisphere championship.
Their forwards looked impressive against the Australians with two tries to hooker Malcolm Marx from driving mauls, and when they played wide, wing Aphiwe Dyantyi produced a long-range touchdown.
"Their strengths are the reason they have got to the final," Robertson noted.
"Their ability to maul, and they have got incredible guys who can turn a ball over in Kwagga (Smith) and Malcolm Marx. They are just an abrasive, big pack.
"They have been hurt a couple of times in finals," Robertson added.
"We know what happened last year with the red card, the controversy and we held on in the end there."
In last year's final, the Crusaders led 25-3 at half-time only for the Lions to come back with 14 unanswered points in the second half despite being a man down, with Smith red carded just before the break.
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness'
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg and Rachel McAdams
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The%20specs%20
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COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
KEY%20DATES%20IN%20AMAZON'S%20HISTORY
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre supercharged V6
Power: 416hp at 7,000rpm
Torque: 410Nm at 3,500rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Fuel consumption: 10.2 l/100km
Price: Dh375,000
On sale: now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Company%20Profile
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
'Will%20of%20the%20People'
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Zodi%20%26%20Tehu%3A%20Princes%20Of%20The%20Desert
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEric%20Barbier%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYoussef%20Hajdi%2C%20Nadia%20Benzakour%2C%20Yasser%20Drief%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
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