Chiefs grow self-belief

It sounds odd, but ask the Chiefs for the key moment in their Super 12 campaign and they'll likely point to a loss.

When they arrived in Wellington for the round six game on April 1, the Chiefs were 1-3, and propping up the ladder.

They'd had a rough start, losing in Sydney and Christchurch in a demanding opening fortnight. They then beat the Blues at home, only to turn in a shocker the following week against the Reds, when not only did they lose in Hamilton, but didn't get close. More than one player described it as devastating.

"We came off a huge high with the Blues and didn't really refocus that well for the Reds, and obviously went to rock bottom there," ever-present flanker Marty Holah said.

"The good thing about Fozzie [coach Ian Foster] and Jono [captain Gibbes] was they realised we had to turn things round pretty quickly.

"The bye week gave us a good couple of days to forget that game, assess what went wrong and work out how to improve things."

They lost to the Hurricanes, 28-16, but Foster and several players reckon that was the game when things began to click.

It was also the first starting appearance for lock Bernie Upton, who became a rock in the heart of the pack in his first Super 12 campaign, and, more spectacularly, wing Sitiveni Sivivatu.

The next two weeks produced 40-plus points against the Sharks and Cats. There followed a narrow loss to the Bulls in Pretoria, victory over the Stormers, a thrilling draw - which should have been won - against the Brumbies in Canberra and last Saturday's outstanding win over the Highlanders.

The most noticeable change was the growth in confidence and the knowledge of what they were capable of achieving if they trusted themselves.

Injuries early didn't help, but once they got the belief they grew to such an extent that they finished the round-robin as the form New Zealand side, along with the table-topping Crusaders.

"We took a few beatings early on, but we showed the learning we'd done," Gibbes said of the win against the Highlanders. "In that first 40, we showed how good we could be and we'd cemented the lessons from the previous few weeks.

"We finished sixth and we're pretty proud of that, considering where we were after five rounds."

If there was one regret it would be that the season didn't run another couple of weeks.

Shortly, Foster will evaluate the campaign and plan for next season.

"The one thing is we've got a group of players who can play at this level.

"The retention of talent is every Super 12 coach's objective.

"In the next six to eight weeks we'll go through the whole review process, but [if the question is] have we learned we can play in this competition, compete and do very well, the answer is yes."

No Keith Robinson left a hole in the pack. Twice the All Black lock came close to a return; close but no cigar.

Experienced and versatile back Loki Crichton's absence after suffering a neck injury against the Reds hurt, too.

Gibbes alternated between lock and blindside flank and got better as he went along, the epitome of an inspiring follow-me-lads leader.

Several players had their moments, Sione Lauaki, Byron Kelleher, Steven Bates, David Hill, Mark Ranby, Holah, props Ben Castle, Simms Davison and Michael Collins, and newcomers Stephen Donald and Niva Ta'auso among them,

But it was the introduction of Pacific Islands speedsters Sivivatu, Sosene Anesi and Sailosi Tagicakibau - until his broken leg in the win over the Stormers - which became the focal point of the team.

Granted, they could not make use of their searing pace and ability to find and utilise space if the men inside them, and the pack, had not done the groundwork.

But the sight of Anesi from fullback setting up tries and sailing through gaps was among the best of the competition.

He finished with six tries, a fine return for his debut season, while Sivivatu's eight in five games speak eloquently for what he brought to the Chiefs once he returned from his off-season shoulder surgery and rehabilitation.

"A lot of people are writing us off, and that's fine," Foster had said on the eve of that Hurricanes game.

It's to his, and his team's credit, that they turned their season round to finish within arm's reach of the playoffs.

The record

lost Waratahs 7-25
lost Crusaders 18-50

beat Blues 18-9

lost Reds 6-20
lost Hurricanes 16-28

beat Sharks 40-5
beat Cats 45-14

lost Bulls 26-29

beat Stormers 37-34
drew with Brumbies 28-28
beat Highlanders 31-8

Points for: 272
Points against: 250
Tries: 33

Try scorers: Sitiveni Sivivatu 8, Sosene Anesi 6, Niva Ta'auso 4, Sione Lauaki and Stephen Donald 3, Byron Kelleher 2, Sailosi Tagicakibau, Steven Bates, Loki Crichton, David Hill, Aleki Lutui, Bernie Upton, Ben Castle 1.
Kicking stats: David Hill 102 (27 con, 16 pen), K. Lowen 2 (1 con), S. Donald 3 (1 pen).