SCOTT ROBERTSON SAYS he expects the door to open for Oliver Jager next season after the Irish prop was included in Crusaders’ 2018 Super Rugby squad.
The Crusaders head coach, who last season guided the club to a first Super Rugby title in nine years, has included the 22-year-old tighthead in his 38-man panel for next year.
Jager made his Super Rugby debut against the Reds in 2017 and went onto make five appearances for the Crusaders during their title-winning campaign, making a big enough impression to be retained for 2018.
“Oli had limited game time for us in 2017 but continues to work hard and stepped up when needed,” Robertson said of the former Blackrock College student.
“He has had some great performances for Canterbury in the Mitre 10 Cup this season and we know the opportunities will come for him at tighthead prop in 2018, in the absence of Owen Franks in the competition’s early stages.
“We have a lot of confidence in Oli’s ability and look forward to seeing him get stuck in to his work in 2018.”
Naas man Jager won the Leinster Schools Senior Cup with Blackrock College in 2013, and played for the Ireland U18 Schools team the same year.
He travelled to New Zealand as a 17-year-old to attend the International High Performance Unit [IHPU] in Christchurch, impressing enough to be asked back to play club rugby the following season.
Jager’s performances with New Brighton earned him a place in the Canterbury academy and he progressed into their Mitre 10 Cup squad last year before helping the province to further Premiership Division success at the weekend.
He joins the likes of Ryan Crotty, Israel Dagg, Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock in Robertson’s squad as Crusaders begin preparations for their tilt at back-to-back Super Rugby titles.
The 2018 Super Rugby season gets underway on 17 February.
Subscribe to The42 podcasts here:
