Watching Sam Whitelock take over the captaincy of the Crusaders reminds me of when Zinzan Brooke took over the captaincy of the Blues when Sean Fitzpatrick, the All Blacks captain, was in the team.

He just takes the workload away from All Blacks captain Kieran Read, and by taking the captaincy mantle on he has been brilliant. An unassuming type he has shown, in a would-be could-be sort of way, that if anything ever happened to Read his leadership qualities are such that the guys are able to get behind him and just follow so easily.

When it comes to looking at the All Blacks locking role, Whitelock has tended to be overshadowed by Brodie Retallick in many people's eyes. Retallick has won the World Rugby Player of the Year award but Whitelock is not that far behind.

Retallick is an absolute beast and really, really physical, but Whitelock comes across as the brains and the lineout technician. He just goes about his work, does his job and never lets you down.I think back to that vital lineout against South Africa, on their throw, in the Rugby World Cup semifinal in 2015 when it was an absolute must that New Zealand win the ball to deny the Springboks any chance of a late surprise, and Whitelock just nailed it by beating a player as good as Victor Matfield to the ball.

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Clearly his leadership, and the way he plays, he has the respect from all the players. He's got that Crusaders team just absolutely humming and they look like they are having so much fun.

That's the key part: nothing is strained, pushed or forced, the offloads are brilliant, and, judged on the tries they are scoring, it looks like the team are just having a ball; and I haven't even mentioned Scott Robertson, a debut coach at Super Rugby level who has come in and taken the team up a notch.

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He, again, is a very relaxed character and he's a little bit different, and it looks like the players love it.

They may have had a couple of lucky refereeing calls, but I think from where they started the season, and the amount of injuries they had, and the games they have stolen in the final stages, you didn't expect this sort of situation and I recall mentioning one of those games might be later regarded as the turning point of the season.

You get a couple of lucky wins under your belt and you grow in confidence. They're not winning by one point now or narrow margins; they're now actually making a statement and bringing back their heavy artillery from injury.

We started the season looking at the Chiefs and thinking they were the benchmark, but now the Crusaders have clearly laid down a marker; the benchmark has been lifted and they are saying 'We're the team you've got to catch'.

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Relieving Read of the captaincy hasn't done him any harm. There's a spring in his step and he's gone into a team where everyone else is enjoying it. There is a burden when you have the captaincy, but under these circumstances all he has got to worry about is getting his form back and clearly he is doing that by going about his business and wanting to play.

I think it is also a credit to the management they way they have handled his transition back into the side. It has been done very well.

What has also impressed me is the way the younger players in the side have really come forward. The likes of George Bridge, Richie Mo'unga, Jack Goodhue and David Havili, there's a whole bunch of them, which is great and exciting not only for Crusaders rugby but also for New Zealand rugby. It's a really good sign.

I possibly expected a bit more from the Stormers but really it was all about the Crusaders.

The Hurricanes did the job against the Brumbies, scored some tries, and again there are players who are performing really well. The Brumbies were pretty average opposition.

Really, it wasn't a good weekend for the Aussies. When we thought things were already at rock bottom, even that situation was surpassed when the Waratahs lost to the Kings. It was terrible for Australian rugby.

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You can't help but feel for Daryl Gibson. You have to wonder what some of those players are thinking. To go and lose to the Kings with the likes of the cattle they have in New South Wales ... if everyone of those players went out and played to a level they should have because that's their reputation and they've got some good players in there, there's no way they would lose.

But if they drop their standards, their performance drops and they play down to the Kings' level, it is an embarrassing moment for them, especially when the fate of the Rebels and the Force is still in limbo. While they would never get rid of the Waratahs, you have to feel for the Rebels and Force who have to look at the Waratahs and think 'What sort of message are we getting here?'.

The Force played with a point to prove in Perth and gave the Chiefs a hurry-up. The Chiefs won't be pleased with their standards at the moment, especially after we, and many others, saw them as the benchmark earlier in the season. That's a couple of hiccups in as many weeks but they are good enough. They've got the team to bounce back and be there at the end.