Crusaders halfback Kevin Senio almost sounds as anxious as the South African rugby public over whether Bulls talisman Fourie du Preez is fit for Saturday's Super 14 semi-final in Pretoria.

All week South African media, particularly the Afrikaan newspapers, have followed du Preez's progress as the Springboks halfback battles a ligament tear in his shoulder.

A specifically designed shoulder brace arrived from the United States on Wednesday to help aid the matchwinner's recovery, yet still he remains doubtful to play at Loftus Versfeld.

Senio, who won the Crusaders No 9 selection battle ahead of Andy Ellis, was quizzed about du Preez by numerous local journalists today.

"I rate him as probably one of the top halfbacks in the world," he said.

"If he plays he'll be a huge part of their team performance. I'll have to keep on my toes and communicate to my forward pack to keep him contained around the blindside.

"It'll be a shame for them if he doesn't get on the field."

Asked if the Crusaders would target du Preez's left shoulder, Senio shrugged his own.

"That's just part of the game. If he's defending and he's shy of it, we'll find out."

Du Preez starred in the Bulls' 40-19 defeat of the Blues two weeks ago, an impressive performance which the Crusaders were placing more credence on than the Bulls' 92-3 crushing of the Queensland Reds last weekend.

One-test All Black Senio has recovered himself from a thigh injury which kept him out of last week's loss to the Chiefs. He resumed running on Sunday, the day before they flew to South Africa.

Crusaders coach Robbie Deans warned Senio to prepare for a big defensive outing against the Bulls, who like to send their big runners around the fringes.

"If they run in singles it's not too bad but if they stampede it's going to get pretty difficult," Senio said.