KEY POINTS:
Chiefs coach Ian Foster is sure his Super 14 team has an edge due to Waikato's triumph in the national championship last year.
Most of the Chiefs squad were part of that Waikato team which saw off Wellington 37-31 in the final last October and, although allowing for a lift in playing standards, Foster can see good things coming out of that Waikato success in the coming months.
"Nothing builds confidence more than winning," he said yesterday.
"For a lot of the guys it was their first Air New Zealand Cup title and you walk away from that with a sense of confidence that you're on the right track."
But Foster said those emotions were tempered by the realisation that sterner challenges lie ahead for the newcomers to Super 14 rugby. Of the seven Super rugby debutants in the Chiefs squad, six - backs Richard Kahui, Brendon Leonard and Dwayne Sweeney and forwards Toby Lynn, Craig West and Aled de Malmanche - are Waikato players, the odd man out being Bay of Plenty first five-eighth Murray Williams.
"So there is a sense of excitement, but also a wariness. At the same time, we're feeling good with it," Foster added.
The Chiefs, which have made the semifinals just once in 11 years, kick off their campaign against the Brumbies in Hamilton on Saturday.
The Brumbies have had the wood on the Chiefs, having won eight of their 12 clashes but this weekend they are without key playmaker Stephen Larkham, whose wife is expecting their second child, and lock or loose forward Daniel Heenan, who has a shoulder problem.
Foster is likely to be without Kahui, who also has a shoulder injury.
The Chiefs are without three All Blacks - backs Byron Kelleher, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Mils Muliaina - who are on reconditioning duty.
* The Highlanders' campaign hit a snag yesterday with fullback Glen Horton damaging a rib ahead of their game on Friday. Southland's James Wilson replaces Horton.
