Rugby: Chiefs make last drive for respectability

Coach Ian Foster knows a poor start cost his team a playoff spot in his last Super 15 campaign with the Chiefs. Photo / Christine Cornege

Being involved in professional rugby for the best part of a decade and a half, Ian Foster has heard his fair share of ridiculous comments.

The one that is top of his nonsense list at the moment is when he hears people say that the Chiefs and Hurricanes have nothing to play for in Hamilton tonight.

"We have plenty to prove," Foster said. "There's everything to play for, especially when you didn't put your best foot forward earlier in the season."

What Foster didn't say, but could have, is that the desire to make a point is strongest especially when you've had the sort of turbulent week the Hurricanes have.

Strictly speaking, the Chiefs and Hurricanes have five potential points to play for. What they don't have is the opportunity to make a push for the six-team playoffs, something that has come as a huge disappointment to Foster in his eighth and final campaign with his home franchise.

As he put it himself, the Chiefs didn't put their best foot forward early in the tournament. The whys and wherefores of that will be dissected when it comes time to review the Super 15 with the NZRU, but there are a couple of obvious reasons that stand out as the Chiefs went 3-7 in their first 10 games (they've recovered somewhat to be 6-8).

"You have to look at some key injuries," Foster said.

While not as extensive an injury list as in the 2010 campaign, Foster pointed to Richard Kahui's absence and the freakish back injuries to Mils Muliaina and Stephen Donald as moments when ill fate intervened.

"We didn't goalkick well early. Two or three games that could have turned if we'd been more accurate."

The Chiefs' principal goalkickers, Stephen Donald and Mike Delany, have kicked at 72 and 62 per cent respectively, while the Chiefs as a team have kicked 68.2 per cent of their goals. That compares poorly to the likes of the Stormers (80.2) and Bulls (79.3) and places them 12th overall.

Finally, Foster admitted the tight five did not deliver the "flow of ball" to their talented backs. That has been rectified in the past few weeks.

It's too late now to extend their season, but it's far from meaningless.

CHIEFS V HIGHLANDERS

Hamilton, tonight 7.35

CHIEFS: Mils Muliaina (c), Lelia Masaga, Richard Kahui, Dwayne Sweeney, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Stephen Donald, Brendon Leonard, Fritz Lee, Tanerau Latimer, Liam Messam, Isaac Ross, Craig Clarke, Nathan White, Hika Elliot, Ben May

Reserves: Aled de Malmanche, Toby Smith, Culum Retallick, Matt Vant Leven, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Tim Nanai-Williams, Jackson Willison.

HURRICANES: Cory Jane, Julian Savea, Alapati Leiua, Ma'a Nonu, Hosea Gear, Aaron Cruden, Piri Weepu, Victor Vito, Jack Lam, Faifili Levave, James Broadhurst, Jeremy Thrush, Neemia Tialata, Andrew Hore (c), John Schwalger,

Reserves: Dane Coles, Jacob Ellison, Jason Eaton, Mark Reddish/Karl Lowe, Tyson Keats, Jayden Hayward, Richard Buckman.