WILLI Heinz led the Crusaders against Bristol at Ashton Gate on Friday night and used his week in England to catch up with friends he made during his seven-year stint in the Premiership.
The 37-year old Heinz joined Gloucester in 2015 and went on to win 13 caps for England, qualifying through a grandmother. He would have been involved in the 2019 World Cup final against South Africa but for injury.
“I look back at my time in England really fondly,” said Heinz, who joined Worcester in 2021 but returned to New Zealand the following year for family reasons.
“It was an amazing part of my career. I went to Cheltenham the other day to catch up with a number of former teammates.
“I loved my time at Gloucester and played some of my best rugby there. To represent England was incredible and although the landscape here has been tricky in recent seasons because of financial issues, the future looks good for club and country.”
Heinz spent six years with Canterbury and the Crusaders before linking up with Gloucester and having got used to a different style of play had to do it in reverse when he rejoined the Super Rugby outfit.
“Bristol are one of the more expansive teams in the Premiership and I have played against them on a number of occasions,” he said. “Their recent game against Bath was one hell of a contest with a number of amazing tries scored.
“They like to use every blade of grass on the pitch but all English teams are strong at the breakdown and relish the physical side of the game. You have to be good in those areas when you come here.”
The Crusaders were playing Bristol as part of their build-up to the Super Rugby season having narrowly lost in Munster the previous week.
That match was the first outing in Crusaders’ colours for former Wales and Lions full-back Leigh Halfpenny, but he only lasted 15 minutes before suffering an arm injury that requires surgery.
He is expected to be out for at least three months a
