Chiefs prepare to revisit African nightmare
James Mortimer - (7/02/2010)
The last time the Chiefs were in South Africa, they lost the Rebel Sport Super 14 final 61-17 to a rampant Bulls team that claimed their second championship. As the Waikato based franchise prepares to touch down again in the Republic, no doubt the thoughts of their last match there will enter their minds.
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The Chiefs, already en-route to South Africa, will play the Sharks at ABSA Stadium to kick off their campaign. It is probably the most difficult assignment faced by any team in round one to start the year, and if there was one colosseum in South Africa to usurp Loftus as the most intimidating ground in the country, it would be the 55,000 capacity Kings Park.
And as has become their marquee, the Chiefs will commence the Super 14 on the back foot.
Last year they lost their first three matches to start 2009, not winning their first match until week four, when they thumped the Force 31-13. After that game they would win eight matches and lose just the one to reach the semi-finals.
Already there is a bit of déjà vu.
The Chiefs have lost all three of their pre-season games, but despite not recording any wins have shown some encouraging signs. Coach Ian Foster though is typically realistic and knows his side will be better for the hit out.
"I'm not aware of any correlation between pre-season wins and how you perform in the Super 14 so I am not worried about that," said Foster.
"The lift up in performance over our first two games was very pleasing. We certainly learned some lessons last week against the Blues and put some of them into practice. We created more opportunities and overall I would give ourselves a pass mark and it should give us a lift heading into what's going to be a pretty tough couple of weeks."
After Durban, it doesn’t get any easier for the Chiefs, with a match against Carlos Spencer’s Lions, before coming back via Perth to play the Western Force.
Still, despite the most demanding start of any team, there are positives.
Centre Callum Bruce has been cleared of knee damage and has travelled with the side, and with the exception of All Blacks Mils Muliaina, have a full squad available.
Flanker Tanerau Latimer thinks that touring early is good to “get it out of the way”, and allows the team to bond early in the season.
As difficult as the year may be to start, they finish the season with a wonderful run home, so one or two precious road wins will pay dividends as the year draws on. They play their final seven games on Kiwi soil, with five matches at home.
2010 Chiefs pre-season form
January 22 Chiefs 24 v Highlanders 31 @ Dunedin
January 29, Blues 31 v Chiefs 21 @ North Harbour
February 05, Chiefs 12 v Hurricanes 17 @ Rotorua
Chiefs “road-trip”
Week 1, v Sharks (away)
Played 12: Won 5, Lost 7
In Durban/Port Elizabeth: Played 6: Won 2, Lost 4
Week 2, v Lions (away)
Played 12: Won 8, Lost 4
In Johannesburg/Bloemfontein: Played 6: Won 2, Lost 4
Week 3, v Western Force (away)
Played 4: Won 3, Lost 1
In Perth: Played 2: Won 1, Lost 1
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