Chiefs set to rest raft of players for Blues clash
As much as assistant coach David Hill tried to deny it, the Chiefs look set to keep their powder very much dry for the Super Rugby Aotearoa final.
With their place in the May 8 decider against the Crusaders in Christchurch locked in, the Chiefs have the luxury of a dead rubber final-round clash against the Blues in Auckland on Saturday night, which they can use in whatever way they feel will give them the best preparation for the big one.
And by the look of their training yesterday at their Ruakura headquarters, the visitors to Eden Park are indeed going to make a raft of changes to their lineup, as they rest up their big guns for next weekend.
Star playmaker Damian McKenzie – matchwinner from the past four games – has played every minute of the campaign so far and will be the most obvious man to freshen up.
Fellow All Blacks Anton Lienert-Brown (all but 40 minutes), Brad Weber (started every game) and Tupou Vaa’i (missed one with concussion and started the rest) are others, while the likes of prop Angus Ta’avao, hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho, flanker Mitchell Brown and winger Etene NanaiSeturo have also logged big minutes, and two-test loosie Luke Jacobson could be given an extra week to ease back from a concussion issue.
Fronting media prior to training, Hill tried to suggest the Chiefs wouldn’t go down the rest and rotation route, for a Battle of the Bombays he said was their ‘‘biggest rivalry’’.
‘‘I don’t think we’re willing to rest anyone,’’ he said.
‘‘We had a pile of players come in Monday morning ready to play again. So they’re obviously enjoying their rugby, they’re always keen to play and pull on the Chiefs jersey. And, I think playing the Blues, that rivalry has got a few of them pretty excited.
‘‘The analysts are not allowed to put up any footage of the Crusaders or anything, so we do our best to keep things nice and focused, preparing for the Blues.
It’s just ‘stay on task’ and as we’ve learnt throughout this competition, the grind on a Monday/ Tuesday is pretty important.
‘‘Our best preparation for a final is actually having a good week this week and putting in a performance we are proud of on the weekend.
‘‘So it’s just a matter of finding the mix for this game. They’re [the Blues] on a four or five-day turnaround having played Sunday afternoon, they’ll be banged up, so we’re looking at putting out a team that can beat them.’’
But, even if it kills the Chiefs’ winning momentum – now five victories on the trot – the bigger picture will most surely be at the forefront of the coaches’ minds.
Making that an even easier decision for them is the team’s draw, which saw their byes come in rounds one and six, meaning two lots of four games in a row. That becomes five this time with the final, then the trans-Tasman competition starts straight after and that’s 10 on the trot, and if they were to make the decider of that one, it’s a whopping 11.
The Chiefs are already counting the cost of the brutal all-Kiwi comp, with Tuesday’s announcement that a trio of loose forwards – Kaylum Boshier, Mitchell Karpik and Simon Parker – had been ruled out for the rest of the Super season.
That has seen Tom Florence and Liam Messam called in, and they could potentially take the park as soon as this weekend.
‘‘Liam’s played 179 games for the Chiefs, so I don’t think he needs too much prep, he could probably do it blindfolded, so he’s ready to go, he volunteers to come down, so now he’s getting paid he better do the job properly,’’ quipped Hill, whose last season at the Chiefs crossed over with Messam’s first, in 2006.
Hill said Messam’s ‘‘experience’’, ‘‘mana’’ and ‘‘presence’’, both in meetings and on-field, will be beneficial.
‘‘He doesn’t say as much as he used to when he was captain, arguing with refs and debating with coaches. But just having him there is good for the younger guys, he’s the ultimate pro.’’
Hill also confirmed injured midfielder Quinn Tupaea has been replaced by Waikato utility Gideon Wrampling for just the rest of the Aotearoa campaign.