Benched Spencer may be spared roasting

Maybe Lions coach Dick Muir has done Carlos Spencer a favour.

Having demoted Spencer to the bench for tomorrow night's Super 14 match at Christchurch's AMI Stadium, Muir may yet spare the former Blues first five-eighth a roasting from those Crusaders fans who still bristle at the memory of the Levin-born pivot winding them up during previous visits to Christchurch.

To say the bloke once dubbed "King Carlos" polarised fans in Canterbury is a bit like saying Idi Amin was something of a rogue.

Whether it was his radical hair styles, flashy play or cheeky comments, Spencer was rarely popular when he rolled into the Garden City and many locals would have preferred a dose of shingles than accept he deserved the All Blacks No10 jersey ahead of their golden boy Andrew Mehrtens.

The odds of 34-year-old Spencer starting at first-five at AMI Stadium appeared bright a few weeks ago, but that all changed following his poor showing during last weekend's 72-13 defeat to the Waratahs and Muir, in making four changes to the starting side that produced such a limp defensive effort in Sydney, has started Burton Francis in his place.

These changes are just likely to be cosmetic, however, with the Crusaders expected to roll the winless Lions before they prop their feet up during the bye.

Yesterday, Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder brought five newcomers into the starting team that beat the Chiefs 26-19 last weekend, although, unlike Muir, this is not a case of vainly switching around the deckchairs before the old tub submerges under the waves.

Instead, Blackadder is in the privileged position of refreshing some of his big guns before the Hurricanes encounter on April 2 and, most notably, has resisted the urge to start 66-test veteran Dan Carter again, with Colin Slade getting the green light in the playmaker's role.

This will be Slade's first run at No10 since last year's 6-0 defeat to the Highlanders on March 7 and he hinted he was hoping to pit himself against Spencer, 12 years his senior, if he leaves the pine tomorrow night.

"Too right. Given whatever form he is in at the moment, he has still achieved a lot in New Zealand and growing up as a kid I sort of resented Carlos a little bit for taking Andrew Mehrtens' spot for a while there.

"He was an idol in some ways and it would be cool to play against him, but this weekend I have to concentrate on doing my job."

Blackadder has named Ben Franks ahead of Wyatt Crockett at loosehead prop, Sam Whitelock takes Brad Thorn's place in the second row and the loose forwards have been rejigged with Jonathan Poff and Thomas Waldrom brought in.

Poff will share the fetching duties with skipper Richie McCaw and Adam Whitelock gets his first start at centre.

For Slade, who started at fullback in the opening two rounds this season, starting at No10 is a rare opportunity to showcase his skills to the All Blacks selectors after they picked Mike Delany ahead of him for last year's northern hemisphere tour.

- © Fairfax NZ News