Chiefs keen to force the issue
Damian McKenzie admits he’s a bit of a hypocrite when telling his players that they have to keep doing the simple things over and over and not get “bored” on defence.
The way the star Chiefs first-five approaches the game of rugby is of course anything but bland, but there’s indeed another art in rolling up the sleeves, remaining patient, keeping disciplined, and staying switched on, to be able to get the ball back to pave a way to those magic moments.
That’s exactly what the 47-test All Blacks playmaker knows both he and his Chiefs side need to hone if they are to be genuine Super Rugby Pacific title contenders in 2024.
After what coach Clayton McMillan felt was a decent step up in defensive intensity in last week’s win over the Waratahs in Sydney, it’s imperative his side backs that up in tonight’s clash with the bottom-placed Force in Hamilton.
Samipeni Finau’s bone-jarring shots notwithstanding, the Chiefs have not been the, defensive, err, force, they were last year. In topping the ladder in 2023, they conceded only 261 points in their 14 regular-season games at 18.64 per outing.
It was a big improvement from 2022, where, despite finishing third on the ladder, they had leaked the most points of any top-eight side in the regular season, at an average of 24.86. This year, they are almost back up to identical numbers, at 24.78 (fourth-equal with the Reds).
After last season only twice conceding more than 25 points in a match, the Chiefs have done so four times in their nine fixtures through this campaign, with a few periods of slacking having been high on the list of addressing as they eye up this five-week launchpad into the playoffs.
“[It’s] just understanding that, as you get deeper into the competition, those little lulls have the ability to determine the outcome of games,” McMillan said.
“It’s [the key to fixing it] probably just not getting tired of doing the same thing over and over. I thought defensively our intensity was there from the first minute till the last against the Waratahs, and it’s [about] getting excited around what the guy inside, and outside, you is doing, and making that contagious and something that everyone wants to be involved with.”
Echoing those sentiments, McKenzie admitted it can be “a mental challenge” on defence if up by a few points.
“There’s been games where we’ve started really well and then kind of just gone off the boil a little bit,” he acknowledged. “I think it’s just doing the simple things really well and not getting bored with that.
“I’d probably say I’m a bit of a hypocrite,” he added with a laugh. “I can sometimes be one of those people, to be honest.”
Whether the Chiefs get thrown too much tough to tackle tonight by the rank $11 outsiders remains to be seen, mind you, with the Force coming into the game tryless in their two meetings on New Zealand soil this year.
In between beating the Crusaders in Perth they were thumped 50-3 by the Blues a month ago, then lost 7-6 to the Highlanders last weekend.
But the hosts are on guard, for what is one of just two home games they have in the final eight weeks of the regular season.
“Their attack is really good when they get going, they’ve got a lot of variation in their game,” McMillan said of the West Australians, noting that attack coach Mark Ozich, in his third season with the Force, had brought a similar philosophy to what he used to have success with at Hawke’s Bay.
And, along with veteran former Wallaby Kurtley Beale, in the back-three there’s also one Chase Tiatia, who leads the competition for linebreaks (13), and McMillan, of course knows rather well from his days at both Bay of Plenty (2015-2021) and the Chiefs (2017, 2021-2022).
“He’s a confidence player, he wants to get the ball in his hands and have a go, and we’ve just got to make sure we have bodies around him and respect what he can bring to the table.”