Rennie warns Hurricanes: Don't rely on home advantage

The Chiefs narrowly lost to the Hurricanes earlier in the season at Westpac Stadium. Photo / Getty

If the Hurricanes think they'll enjoy home advantage in New Plymouth on Saturday, Chiefs coach Dave Rennie offered a quick rebuttal to those claims.

"I don't know how they'd know that," he smiled. "They haven't been there for seven years."

That neglect was part of the reason Taranaki opted to switch their allegiance to the Chiefs before the 2014 season. And although their association has been brief, Rennie believes his side have already shown more appreciation for local fans than the previous regime.

The Chiefs' first match at Yarrow Stadium was an appetising encounter with the Blues, the first all-Kiwi affair in New Plymouth for 15 years. Subsequent visits have brought high-quality opposition like the Waratahs and the Brumbies, whereas the Hurricanes generally produced the dregs of the competition on their rare trips to the region.

So while an 18-year connection will be tough to forget for many fans, the Chiefs hope their level of engagement will eventually be enough to break any bonds from the previous relationship.

"Since we've been involved in Taranaki and they've been part of the Chiefs, we've taken down some good cattle," Rennie said. "I think [the Hurricanes] were there twice in seven years, and they took the Lions and the Force.

"I know there will be a lot of Hurricanes supporters but our job is to influence that over time through performances and through connections down there, and hopefully we'll get a few wearing our colours.

"We just want to get some good footy down there and hopefully the public are inspired by that and they come out in big numbers."

Hika Elliot, who spent a season with the Hurricanes before joining the Chiefs, was sure the crowd would turn out in force and equally certain what colours they would be wearing.

"I think it's definitely Chiefs territory now," the hooker said. "They've had their association with [the Hurricanes] but, by all accounts, the Taranaki people are right behind us."

That off-the-field battle will be almost as intriguing as the action on the park, with the Hurricanes safely ensconced in top spot and the Chiefs having also secured their playoff place.

Both sides may opt to keep a little in reserve ahead of the finals - with Ma'a Nonu and Sam Cane set to be absent through the All Blacks' rest requirements - but Rennie thought the Hurricanes would want to be near full-strength given they'll spend next weekend on the sidelines ahead of the semifinals.

"Guys with niggles and that sort of thing, it makes sense to give them a week," he said. "But I wouldn't be looking to wrap guys up in cotton wool, otherwise they end up having two weeks off going into a big game, and maybe that's not ideal.

"We want to play a strong Hurricanes side as well, and we want to take a bit of momentum into the playoffs. It's an important week for both teams, I think, and we'll both want to get a good result."