Crusaders' pre-match horses likely to go

Cape Town - The Crusaders are preparing to make changes to their match-day entertainment for their home game against the Brumbies next weekend. 

While the changes are yet to be confirmed, Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge told the Stuff website, sword-wielding knights were "unlikely" to canter around Christchurch Stadium on horses before kick-off.

The match will be the first game for the nine-time Super Rugby champion Crusaders since the Christchurch terrorist attacks which left 50 people dead on March 15.

The Crusaders have come under fire in some quarters since the deadly mosque shootings, with calls for them to change both their name and emblem, and for the horses which have featured since the team's inception in 1996 to be scrapped. 

The Crusaders are understood to have multiple plans in the works ahead of their next home game, but the only thing Mansbridge confirmed was it would honour the victims of the attack.

The Crusaders' match against the Highlanders, which was scheduled for the day after the attacks, was cancelled.

Last weekend, the Crusaders honoured the victims before kick-off, and wore white "united" armbands. They lost 20-12 to the Waratahs in Sydney, their first loss in more than a year.