Rugby: Chiefs still cling to hope

Richard Kahui didn't have his best game for the Chiefs on Friday night. Photo / Getty Images

Hope doesn't quite spring eternal in Hamilton, but it does at least exist. The Chiefs are now in that horrid grey zone where realistically they need five wins and other results to go their way.

It's not a great place to be. One slip and it's all over or someone else, the Brumbies, maybe, charges down the home straight against the odds.

Still, for now, there is hope they can still somehow claw their way into the play-offs.

Coach Ian Foster feels his side have plenty to tidy up. Tactically they have been flowing quite nicely - playing the right style against the right opponents. Technically, though, they have been loose and the story of their season is of poor execution and an almost flippant attitude towards basic skills.

"The play-offs are definitely achievable," says Foster. "With five games to go, historically it has been achievable from the position in which we are.

"But we are only looking at the Stormers and we know we have to take the improvements we showed against the Bulls and grow from those."

While the Stormers rank as one of the tougher sides in the tournament, there is an element of contentment they are the next visitors to the Waikato.

The African teams pose a different challenge to everyone else with their physicality, bulk and proficiency at set-piece. The Chiefs learned plenty against the Bulls, much of which should be as effective against the Stormers.

The tricky part for Foster will not come in the shape of the game plan. That will just need some refinement and added intensity so the Chiefs can last the full 80 minutes.

Selecting the right side is what he will have to get right. As the competition now shifts into serious mode, the preference is not to juggle resources and worry too much about affording players rest weeks.

It is time for combinations to come into their own; for senior players to stand up and guide younger men; for teams to really show what they are all about.

Mike Delany has been deployed at No 10 in the last two weeks, playing with Stephen Donald at second five and Richard Kahui at centre. On paper, this All Black trio is the best midfield combination available to the Chiefs. It is the one most observers would urge Foster to pick through to the end of the campaign.

But it hasn't quite gelled yet and according to Foster: "We will look at selection pretty closely this week. That [midfield combination] still has some growing to do and Richard, by his own standards, didn't have the best game."

There will be a reluctance to leave Kahui out of the starting XV as the All Black centre brings a presence and level of experience the Chiefs will need in the absence of captain Mils Muliaina.

Kahui himself will be desperate to play, partly to find his form and partly to repay those younger, less experienced players who have held up well in recent weeks.

Prop Ben Afeaki came through a difficult test better than could be expected, according to Foster, and Culum Retalick has contributed significantly more than the coaching staff predicted before the season began.

It's the progress of Afeaki that is really warming Foster's heart right now. The big North Harbour prop is a huge man, yet has recorded some frighten-ingly quick sprint times.

He was overlooked by the Blues - having been off-limits in 2009 to build his young body to better cope with the demands of Super 14 - and was taken by the Chiefs on the belief he had the potential to be a useful fringe operator if injuries struck.

Afeaki is handling the demands well. "I think he has shown he can play at this level," said Foster. "He's in a good place physically which is very important for young props."