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Horwill is desperate to send McKenzie out with a Super Rugby title. Source:News Limited
HARD-EDGED skipper James Horwill has shelved any sentimental salute to the Ewen McKenzie era for the simple reason he wants the Reds' biggest success to still lie ahead.
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Knocking off the hotly-favoured Crusaders on their home patch in chilly Christchurch on Saturday night is all that matters to Horwill, who has his play-offs face on.
It will take a special performance to do the job because the Crusaders have built a peerless 14-0 record in finals matches played in their home city since Super 12 began in 1996.
"Certainly, 'Link' deserves to go out on the right note but there's a few more games to get through before I talk about that," said Horwill with a semi-final and final still on his radar after this weekend.
Going full-time to the Wallabies can wait for McKenzie.
The Reds haven't yet put together their best 80 minutes of rugby this season. They were masterful for chunks of the fine wins over the Chiefs and Highlanders in New Zealand but they gave up five tries too.
Horwill is a big fan of the NFL and NBA in the US and knows exactly what playoff time means.
"The season starts again and we understand what it takes to get past these big games," the captain of Queensland's 2011 title team said.
"Nearly everyone in the side has played in one or two finals series. You can't replicate that, coach it or teach it.
"It is something you have to experience which is something positive as a real benefit for us.
"We're not a team that makes finals and is just happy with that."
Most tangibly, it means the Reds won't go into their shells with stage fright in Christchurch where the conditions are tipped to be clear but six degrees. They will have a crack.
Enjoying the big occasion rather than being cowed by it has certainly been the mood in the camp. Pointedly, it is the way the Crusaders are approaching it to and why not with 116-Test backrow great Richie McCaw freshly promoted to the bench to continue his comeback.
At Rugby World Cup 2011, the catchcry of the All Blacks was "walk towards the pressure", a shrewd mindset to embrace the moment not be neutered by expectation.
"We can take some learnings out of the World Cup,'' Crusaders halfback Andy Ellis said in New Zealand.
"You have to treat this as an honour, not a burden, because as soon as you think 'we have been here so many times, we should win it' it just creates anxiety."
The Reds made some big backline calls on Thursday with Jono Lance installed in his preferred inside centre role because of the hamstring injuries to Anthony Faingaa and Mike Harris.
Lance will tackle all day but he also has to crash the ball ahead and keep his handling tidy. Demoting Luke Morahan, the try-scoring hero of the tour match against the Lions last month, is tough.
It shows the regard for tyro Chris Feauai-Sautia, 19, and the need for a tackle-shredding, gain-line runner in the Digby Ioane mould who can get the side going forward from nothing.
"The Crusaders bring out the best in us. Big finals are as close to Test rugby as you get with no second chances," Horwill said.
Horwill's calf niggle has settled but the bigger issue was building up his emotional energy again after it was squeezed dry by the tense series against the British and Irish Lions.
The Crusaders have been boasted by the return of big ball-carting lock Luke Romano (ankle).
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