Johnny McNicholl didn’t need told.
Filling in for injured All Black Will Jordan, the veteran fullback knew he had a mare after attempting an unnecessary behind the back pass with the line begging.
But 25,000 fans packed into One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch let him know regardless. As did almost all of his teammates.
Just not the one - rookie centre Cooper Roberts - who would have scored on debut had McNicholl dished a conventional pass late in the Crusaders’ rout of the Hurricanes last week.
“He didn’t. The whole team did, though. Everyone of the boys let me know about that. I already knew after I had thrown it that it was a bad decision.
