Chiefs and Bulls in last chance saloon

Sione Lauaki, left, and Marty Holah are in an unchanged side. Picture / Fotopress

The Chiefs would be advised to shut their ears in the lead-up to their crunch match against the Bulls in Pretoria early tomorrow.

The rhetoric in the Republic urging the Bulls to fly the South African flag in an improbable march to the semifinals is reaching 10 on the volume meter.

With the other three South African franchises propping up the ladder, the Bulls are carrying the pride of the nation.

"They certainly are talking like that," Chiefs coach Ian Foster admitted yesterday.

"And it's probably true, they are the best chance of the South African teams."

Both teams are talking up the opposition ahead of a match which will effectively decide which one will keep their slim semifinal hopes alive and which will have them dashed.

"The Chiefs may not have big names, but in their back trio they have so much speed and skill that they can run any other team ragged," Bulls coach Heynecke Meyer said.

"They are an exceptional outfit and will place a lot of pressure on us."

Foster pointed to the Bulls' outstanding win over the Crusaders, plus their mauling of the Reds last weekend as evidence of their class.

"Certainly their confidence is high. They are quite big, but not just a set-piece team. They play with a lot of momentum.

"But we always knew this would be a massive game."

Both teams are unchanged from their convincing wins last week, the Chiefs' only alteration coming on the bench where Steven Bates and Mark Ranby return in place of Nili Latu and Keith Lowen.

Foster admitted the selection was pretty straightforward. The only call which gave pause for thought was reinstating the highly regarded Bates, who missed the 45-14 win over the Cats with a knee tendon strain.

In his place Sione Lauaki was a damaging figure. Foster has opted to keep captain Jono Gibbes at blindside flanker, Lauaki's usual position, thus giving three lineout jumpers which, against a pack including giant locks Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha, is good thinking.

"Once you've got a couple of wins under your belt you want to run with the guys who've delivered that," Foster added.

But the Bulls are scoring tries and pacy wings Bryan Habana and Akona Ndugane have bagged 10 of their 17 this season. They'll be up against Chiefs speedsters Sitiveni Sivivatu and Sailosi Tagicakibau, who are in prime form, and have flying Sosene Anesi at the back adding an extra dynamic element.

The Bulls captain, Anton Leonard, plays his 50th Super 12 game tomorrow. History suggests it shouldn't be a game to savour for the big No 8. The Chiefs have won seven of their nine previous clashes.

Pretoria, 1am, tomorrow

BULLS
Johan Roets
Akona Ndugane
JP Nel
Etienne Botha
Bryan Habana
Morne Steyn
Fourie du Preez
Anton Leonard (c)
P. Wannenburg
Jacques Cronje
Victor Matfield
Bakkies Botha
Richard Bands
Gary Botha
Kees Lensing

Reserves: Danie Coetzee, Wessel Roux, Danie Rossouw, Warren Brosnihan, Heini Adams, Kennedy Tsimba, Wynand Olivier.

CHIEFS
Sosene Anesi
S. Tagicakibau
Niva Ta'auso
David Hill
Sitiveni Sivivatu
Stephen Donald
Byron Kelleher
Sione Lauaki
Marty Holah
Jono Gibbes (c)
Sean Hohneck
Bernie Upton
Deacon Manu
Aleki Lutui
Simms Davison

Reserves: Scott Linklater, Ben Castle, Wayne Ormond, Steven Bates, Kevin Senio, Mark Ranby, Adrian Cashmore