Rugby: Aaron Cruden looks to take over Chiefs goalkicking duties

Aaron Cruden lines up a kick at goal for the Chiefs. Photo / Photosport.

Expect Aaron Cruden to line up off the tee this Friday night against the Blues ahead of Damian McKenzie.

The Chiefs pivot is relaxed about his wayward goalkicking against the Crusaders in Suva. He puts it down to an 'off night' which all those who take on the duties experience.

Cruden played well enough in the 31-24 defeat but was outplayed overall and outkicked off the tee by the young comer Richie Mo'unga, a man who would not look out of place on the All Blacks' end of year northern tour. Cruden converted just two of the Chiefs' four tries, but did score one himself.

A chipper Cruden was philosophical but adamant he wants the responsibility and vowed to be better against the Blues, where he will face old teammates Sonny Bill Williams and Augustine Pulu.

"It was a bit of a bummer the way I kicked on the weekend, but kickers have those games sometimes. The rhythm wasn't quite there, so I'll be putting in the work this week to make sure it doesn't happen again," says Cruden.

"I've been really happy with how my goalkicking has been going this year... but I'm pretty disappointed that in a big game I wasn't quite feeling it. But hey, I won't let it get me down. The sun is still shining and we have another challenge this weekend."

Chiefs coach Dave Rennie, as staunch an advocate as anyone for his No 10, was relatively unconcerned and did not envisage McKenzie assuming the duties.

Cruden is kicking at a solid 73 percent, McKenzie 72, and this is comparable with Ihaia West (72) and Mo'unga (72), though not in the Marty Banks category (92).

"We've got a couple of good options, but we believe Aaron is our best goalkicker. He didn't have a great night by his own admission. I thought he had a great game, he was superb. But he is tough on himself... they both want to kick, but we certainly won't let one game spook us," Rennie says.

Cruden identified executing in crucial moments as a key work-on for the Chiefs against their neighbours, who are not virtually out of playoffs contention after their controversial defeat to the Stormers.

"(The match in Suva) was a great game to be part of. Coming out of the sheds in the second half we didn't quite have the intensity that was needed to finish that game against the Crusaders, who are in hot form," Cruden says.

"We haven't been in that situation a helluva lot, but getting into the back-end, crunch time, we need to take those learnings to make sure it doesn't happen again. Although we didn't win that game, we did a lot of good things and still have to be confident in our ability."

In other Chiefs player news, Dave Rennie confirmed that Stephen Donald pulled up "okay" after his concussion on Friday night, but will likely not be considered for the Blues clash, while Charlie Ngatai has been symptom-free for four days now, but is also unlikely to feature this Friday.