Rugby: Chiefs in push to keep wins coming

Multimedia Journalist·NZ Herald·

19 Mar, 2015 04:00 PM3 mins to read

Aaron Cruden of the Chiefs. Photo / Christine Cornege.

Consistency was key in the Chiefs' title-winning campaigns and it also proved their undoing last season.

While it's too soon to assess whether that crucial quality has returned to Dave Rennie's side in 2015, a victory over the Sharks will allay some concerns about its absence.

Those concerns were raised after the crushing of the Crusaders in round three, with the Chiefs' best performance of their season followed by their worst in a wayward effort against the Highlanders.

So, with the impressive victory over the Stormers fresh in their minds, the Chiefs' priority when they face the Sharks on Sunday will be preventing last week's gains being squandered with another indifferent outing.

It's a problem that plagued the previous season, when the Chiefs won their first three matches but never replicated such a streak and only twice more managed to string together consecutive victories.

That inconsistency was a stark contrast to the golden years - when, with 28 victories in 36 games, the Chiefs were unbeatable for large stretches - and it saw the defending champions barely edge into the playoffs before exiting in the first round.

Getting back to the final is the focus this year and, with a string of victories needed to achieve that aim, the C-word a central focus ahead of the encounter with the Sharks.

"Being consistent in this competition is what it's all about and backing up big performances is something every team needs to manage to get to the final," said assistant coach Tom Coventry. "We rely pretty heavily on our senior players and our leadership group to motivate our team in that area.

"We're aware of [the need for consistency] but we try to focus on the positive parts of our game and what style of football we're trying to play. Hopefully we get most of our motivation by trying to be better than we were the previous week."

Last week set the bar rather high and there were plenty of positives to attract the team's attention. For one, the Chiefs were consistent in terms of territory, enjoying the lion's share of field position for the third week running.

The kicking game was crucial in establishing such an advantage and, with humid conditions in Durban set to test ball security, there should be an onus on that aspect against the Sharks.

"Last time we played here (an 18-12 win in April 2012) it was like playing in the rain," Coventry said. "It was humid, the ball was wet constantly, so conditions will play a part.

"I think our kicking strategies will continue but obviously we want to play. We do a bit of work [at training] where we pop the ball in a bucket of detergent to make it nice and slippery, so maybe we'll be falling back on some of those activities."

Providing that preparation is applied to good effect on Sunday morning, the statistics suggest the Chiefs' attack could prove too potent for the Sharks' defence to handle.