Rugby: Chiefs firmly grounded for clash with the Reds

Memories of how their season petered out last year have helped to keep the Chiefs grounded ahead of their Super 14 rugby match against the Queensland Reds in Brisbane tonight.

The Hamilton-based franchise could be forgiven for still being on a high after their dazzling 63-34 demolition of the Blues last Saturday night.

But skipper Mils Muliaina said the Chiefs were aware of how they had not always been able to back up a good performance. He pointed to their fortunes at the tail end of last season to explain why it had been easy to refocus for the trip to Suncorp Stadium.

Last May, the Chiefs went into the final three rounds on the back of a five-match winning streak that included victories over eventual champions the Crusaders and the Reds.

But after beating the Queenslanders, they could not pull off another win and finished seventh, leaving them out of the playoffs.

"We've got our feet firmly on the ground and we are certainly under no illusions that we've got to back up from a pretty good performance against the Blues," said Muliaina.

While the Chiefs' backs - including winger Sitiveni Sivivatu with a quartet - got plenty of praise for running in eight of the nine tries against the Blues, Muliaina was particularly pleased with the effort of the pack.

Maligned earlier in the season for their work at the set piece and the breakdown, the forwards had plenty of success in both facets against the Blues.

"They've been heavily criticised and they've worked on their game and they produced some quality ball for the backs," he said.

Flanker Tanerau Latimer said the biggest reason for the improvement by the forwards was a change in attitude.

"We knew we hadn't been performing individually and what we needed was to bring it together collectively."

- NZPA