Rugby: Conan puts fire back in Chiefs

The Chiefs' decision to make Aled de Malmanche concentrate solely on his hooking skills seems to be paying. Photo / Sarah Ivey

If there was a single moment when the Chiefs began to turn around a Super 14 campaign that seemed certain to be yet another exercise in futility, it probably came eight minutes into the second half of their third-round match against the Sharks.

A week earlier in Sydney, the Chiefs' tight five had been ritually-disembowelled by the Waratahs. The scrum had crumbled, the lineout was a shambles and only a tireless defensive effort kept the scoreline to a respectable but morale-sapping 11-7 defeat.

More of the same was expected against a title-favourite Sharks team that sauntered into Hamilton with a Springbok-laden pack.

The Chiefs, however, proved to be made of sterner stuff than their previous efforts had suggested.

Unheralded Bay of Plenty prop James McGougan - who would go on to emerge as one of the finds of the season - came in to shore-up the scrum. He was joined by hooker Aled de Malmanche, whose direct, powerful runs buckled the Sharks' defensive line from the outset.

The Sharks edged the first half 7-3, but eight minutes into the second spell another typically-effective charge saw de Malmanche cross for a try. It didn't prove to be a match-winner, two JP Pietersen tries and three questionable "no-try" TMO calls saw to that, but it did prove to the Chiefs they could go toe-to-toe with the big boys.

The Sharks emerged from that game 3-0, the Chiefs 0-3. But the Chiefs came away with something more valuable than competition points - belief.

"We knew that we were a good side, we just had to make sure we worked together and put it out on the park," de Malmanche said. "That was a big focus for us and it hasn't really changed during the season."

De Malmanche's ball carrying may have caught the eye but it was just one spoke on a wheel that had begun to turn in the right direction, coach Ian Foster said.

All of the tight-five forwards had improved significantly, including de Malmanche's competitor for the hooker's jersey, Hika Elliot.

The Sharks game may have provided the first glimpse of improvement, but the real turning point was the previous week's humiliation inflicted by the Waratahs, Foster said.

"Both Aled and Hika really grew up after that game," Foster said. "That was an influential week for us. We know we didn't set piece well at all. A lot of the [improvement] since has been the homework they have done and the standards that those two have demanded from those around them."

Elliot has made de Malmanche battle for the starting role he will fill again tonight.

It was a try-scoring Elliot cameo that dug the Chiefs out of a hole against the Lions in round eight and he followed that with a 40m try that tipped the game his side's way against the Cheetahs in Kimberley in round 10.

Dangerous around the track and now part of a scrum that is no longer a pushover, the Chiefs hookers have had their dramas at lineout time.

Statistics published before last week's victory over the Hurricanes showed de Malmanche and Elliot were among the worst offenders when it came to lineouts being lost on their throws.

De Malmanche, with 20 losses, ranked seventh, while Elliot (18) was ninth.

Those numbers support Foster's view that both of his hookers - and their jumpers - still have plenty of work to do.

De Malmanche has already made big strides from last year, when Foster lamented the Chiefs lack of adequate back-up to veteran hooker Tom Willis.

Back then de Malmanche was a Mr Fixit, capable of filling in at prop at a pinch. This year he was told to concentrate solely on his hooking skills.

"We have simplified his job description," Foster said. "While we still believe he is capable of [playing prop] we felt the best thing for development was to give him the chance to be a specialist. He has responded to that and worked hard at it. While he still has a bit of room to grow he is reaping the rewards of that singular focus.

"He has grown as this campaign has evolved. He has had a lot more chances to start this year and that is because he has really, really improved his core skill work.

"He has certainly got a lot of strength and I think he is getting smarter as he gets more games under his belt."

Nicknamed Conan, de Malmanche does a fair wild barbarian impression with the ball in hand. But he knows his primary role is to ensure a supply quality to ball to the side's Rolls-Royce backline.

"We've got great backs but if we don't get the ball cleanly to them off our set piece then they can't do much with it," he says.

That set piece is sure to be under scrutiny again tonight. The Chiefs may have buried the ghosts of Sydney but de Malmanche knows opponents won't stop trying to dig them up: "Every week every tight five is going to have a crack at us."

Since round three, the Chiefs have been up to those tests.