The fifth round of Super Rugby Pacific seems to offer little respite for the Christchurch-based Crusaders who face the Auckland-based Blues amid a form slump so pronounced even the New Zealand prime minister has commented on it. The 11-time champions have started the season with four consecutive losses for the first in their history and the prospect of a drought-breaking win seems remote as they face the fourth-place Blues and third-place Chiefs in their next two matches. By that stage, in a close competition in which only two teams have yet to win, it may be too late to save their season. New Zealand´s Christchurch-born Prime Minister Chris Luxon, along with all Crusaders fans, believes the defending champions still can turn things around. “Don´t worry, they´ll come back,” Luxon said in a radio interview. “I think four games into it or whatever we are, second bottom on the ladder but we´ve got plenty to play for. There´s “lots more to go and the Crusaders, they win ugly or they win nice but they win so that´s what´s important.” In any other season, that might be a reasonable expectation. Not this year. The 2024 Crusaders are not the team they once were, that could face any adversity and surmount it. They are a shadow even of the team they were last year.