Rugby: Colin Cooper challenges Chiefs to play smarter ahead of Bulls clash

Chiefs coach Colin Cooper wants his team to smarten up.

Despite coming away with a win against the Blues in their most recent Super Rugby match, Cooper thought that more could have been done to secure the result.

"Against the Blues it was a very proud moment physically and the way we played and we bought everything but we didn't play smart," Cooper said.

"There were times there where we could have really put the foot on the throat."

The Chiefs host the Bulls on Friday night in their first home game of the year, and Cooper said for the beginning of the week, the focus would solely be on what his side could do to improve.

Head Coach Colin Cooper wants the Chiefs to play smarter against the Bulls. Photo / Photosport.

The Chiefs come into the game following a bye round, with a win and a loss to their name. The Bulls come in having beaten the Hurricanes in round two before falling to back-to-back losses.

While they had shown glimpses of brilliance, Cooper said the combinations in the middle of the park for the Chiefs were still a work in progress and he hoped they'd show an improved performance against the Bulls.

"We've got young 9s and 10s. Those guys are the conductors of your game plan. We've just got to work with them to make sure we give them the real clarity on our expectations of our game.

"We've got a group of men who just want to play hard for each other. I saw Chiefs mana coming out of the players (against the Blues), and it was a proud moment, but we can be a lot smarter in how we play and more calculated."

The squad was still riddled with injuries, they would have lock Brodie Retallick and outside back Marty McKenzie in action after missing the clash against the Blues.

Shaun Stevenson was injured in the pre-match warm up against the Blues. Photo / Photosport.

However, Shaun Stevenson was set to miss a minimum of four weeks after picking up a knee injury in the pre-match warm up in Auckland, while Charlie Ngatai (knee) and Dominic Bird (shoulder) would remain on the sidelines for at least another week.

Kane Hames (illness) was also going to miss the game against the Bulls; however a possible timeline for his return was yet to be given by the team.

"It's not appropriate for me to comment on what that's about, but he's making good progress and he's seeing specialists."