“It’s awesome because we’re only a div 2 club, so for us to get called up to host a game like this is massive,” he said.
“We’ll have our barbecue running, bring in a coffee cart, ice cream and so forth, have the bar open, make it a good community day.”
The club hosted the Ellesmere finals day in July, which attracted a crowd of more than 3000 by Messerer’s estimate.
He said it was this success that led to the Crusaders’ pre-season match.
“It was a massive success for the club and the community, so word got around and we got a phone call from the (Crusaders) commercial manager who said: ‘Hey, would you be keen - we heard you’re running a good show’.
“Everyone on the committee and everyone else is on board, so it’s great. It’s going be good for the area.”
“So we’re very pleased to take our pre-season fixture against the Blues to Kirwee. It’ll be our first pre-season game ahead of the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season.
“We have such a history of rivalry with the Blues, and with them being defending champs this year, what an awesome occasion to bring them to rural Canterbury for a bit of Friday afternoon footy.”
The last time the Crusaders played in Selwyn was in 2017 when they beat the Highlanders 50-31 at Darfield in a pre-season match.
- The pre-season clash will kick off at 3.30pm with tickets available via Ticketek.
