Chiefs prepare to kick on
You want to know why Dave Rennie has been Super Rugby’s most successful coach since his appointment in 2012, and what’s behind that much-talked about ‘culture’ at the Chiefs?
Then maybe this has something to do with it. After putting on a clinic of scintillating attacking rugby in belting the Reds 50-5 in Brisbane on Friday night, to notch their biggest ever win in the franchise’s history, Rennie’s response was: haven’t talked about that achievement, should have scored 70, should have hit harder in defence, take the bonus-point win, don’t get too excited.
It’s a ruthless streak that ensures his players are grounded as they head into next weekend’s final round of the regular season, where everything goes on the line for the valuable top spot in the New Zealand conference.
There are other teams who would come away from the Queensland capital with a swagger in their step, chests puffed out and the idea that they’re bulletproof.
Not this lot. Rennie won’t tolerate it.
Even co-captain Sam Cane struggled to sing praises in the post-game interview, such are the standards the team has in place.
The Highlanders in Dunedin present another big challenge on Saturday night, and after titles in 2012 and 2013, the Chiefs know the hard work is not yet done, and that in this new competition they’ll be made to dig in more than ever before.
‘‘We’re happy we got five points,’’ Rennie said.
‘‘But we’ve kept it in perspective. It’s a game where, if we’d been really clinical, we could’ve probably got another 20 points.
‘‘We had a number of opportunities where, if we’d done the obvious, we would have scored. But having said that, we created a hell of a lot of opportunities, and that was a real positive.’’
Those opportunities came despite the Chiefs living off an inferior possession split, and just showed how lethal they can be attacking from deep and scoring off just a couple of phases. . ‘‘It’s just a decision-making thing, and to be honest, if you’re footwork’s good then you get an opportunity to get in behind tacklers and keep it alive. If you run straight into people and get dominant-tackled then it’s hard to do that,’’ Rennie said.
‘‘Everyone’s probably aware of the type of game we play, and if we get things going we can be pretty lethal.’’
An Andrew Horrell head knock was the only medical concern out of the game, and such was the first-half effort, Cane was afforded the luxury of sitting out the second spell, with Liam Messam making a seamless transition back after missing out on Olympics sevens selection.