Born-again Chiefs embrace favourites tag
From pretenders to contenders, the Chiefs will be in Hamilton tonight, but, at the same time in some rather foreign territory.
Not since their season-opener against the Highlanders have they gone into a fixture as favourites. But, some seven weeks later, here they are as just that, up against the bottom of the table Hurricanes at FMG Stadium Waikato.
Having happily dined out on underdog status through the campaign to date, now comes a little more weight of expectation, as the Chiefs push hard for their place in the Super Rugby Aotearoa final – an idea so ridiculous just a short time ago.
But, on the back of four successive wins, another victory here could indeed seal the unthinkable by the end of the weekend, the penultimate one of the regular season.
It will depend on what happens in the Crusaders v Blues match in Christchurch on Sunday afternoon.
If the Chiefs (second on 16 points) win, then the Blues (third on 15 points) lose without a bonus point, that will confirm the
Crusaders hosting the Chiefs in the decider (the first tiebreaker being number of wins – where the Chiefs have one more than the Blues) and make the Blues v Chiefs game at Eden Park next Sunday irrelevant.
A bonus-point win for the Chiefs could give them even more comfort, though they aren’t going to go chasing the unlikely feat of three more tries than the Canes, or worrying about other permutations.
‘‘What’s served us well up until this point is only worrying about the job in front of us,’’ coach Clayton McMillan said. ‘‘I know that sounds a bit cliche, but we just aren’t experienced enough, or good enough, to count our chickens before they hatch. It’s just ‘what do we need to do this week to give ourselves a chance at winning’.’’
While their four victories have been heart-in-the-mouth affairs, the Chiefs know more than any side just how fine the margins are between victory and defeat in this competition, following their winless campaign last year.
So while captain Brad Weber accepts they have earned the right to be favourites for this one, he’s wary how dangerous the nothingto-lose visitors will be.
‘‘We were in a similar position between the teams, in round four in Wellington, which set the Chiefs on their winning ways, with their stunning comeback from 19 points down at halftime.
McMillan said there had been ‘‘no magic pill’’ on this turnaround of fortunes, but just ‘‘hard work and getting good buy in from everybody’’.
‘‘We’ve established some behaviours, some expectations on each other, players to coaches, coaches to players, and we understand how we want to play the game. It’s taken us a little while to get there, but we’re starting to get a little bit of consistency in that and we’re starting to get rewards.’’
That has not so coincidentally also resulted in fans flocking back, and after a healthy crowd of 18,500 turned up for last weekend’s win over the Crusaders, the Chiefs are hoping they can top that figure, in what Weber said would be ‘‘a massive advantage’’ for the side.
‘‘I know when I go away to other teams’ home grounds, if they’ve got big crowds it can be a bit daunting. And when you hear the cowbells ring and stuff, I can only imagine it must put the s .... up some other teams. So let them ring.’’