KEY POINTS:
Force 22
Chiefs 21
The Chiefs trudged out of Perth yesterday licking mental and physical wounds after crashing to a painful defeat at the hands of the Western Force.
As well as an ankle injury that will likely rule key midfielder Richard Kahui out of Saturday's clash with the Lions in Johannesberg, the Chiefs have four other players nursing injuries.
Halfback Jamie Nutbrown (ankle), second five-eighths Callum Bruce (ankle), lock Kevin O'Neil (elbow) and prop Simms Davison (back) are all carrying niggles that could threaten their availability for what has become a must-win match against the competition's bottom team.
The physical blows inflicted by the Force will likely pale in comparison with the mental scars from Matt Giteau's after-the-hooter match-winning penalty.
Giteau's nerveless kick ensured the Chiefs paid the ultimate price for an error-ridden display that had plenty in common with the early-season bumblings that preceded the five-match winning run snapped on Saturday night.
First five-eighths Stephen Donald will likely be the most tortured Chief after missing two easy penalties and a sitter of a conversion.
The return of Donald's kicking yips meant the Chiefs had too much to do after gifting the Force two early tries. If Donald were sitting next to Bruce on the flight out of Perth it would probably have made for a quiet trip. Bruce too, would have plenty to reflect upon after being stripped of possession by David Pocock when he seemed certain to score a match-winning try in the dying stages.
Bruce recovered to put the Chiefs ahead with a drop goal three minutes from time but Giteau's late strike ensured there was no great escape.
"We had two or three very obvious opportunities to take that game away and we weren't good enough - that is the sad part," coach Ian Foster said.
Could-haves and should-haves, however, don't earn competition points and the Chiefs' defeat has dropped them to fifth, setting up a likely winner-takes-all match for a semifinal place against the Sharks in Durban in a fortnight. But first they must get past the bottom-placed Lions. Having been scalped by the Force, Foster's side has no margin for error.
"It is frustrating but that is what you get at this time of year when teams that are out of the race are desperate for credibility and desperate to knock over a team that is in the race," Foster said. "But if we are going to have a chance in this championship we have got to be good enough to deal with that."
They may have blown a hatful of second-half chances but the Chiefs ultimately paid the price for a horror first half when they gifted the Force two soft tries and dropped far too much ball to mount any serious pressure of their own.
Wallabies lock Nathan Sharpe was in imperious form as he dismantled the Chiefs' previously solid lineout.
"We gifted them two early tries through inattention to detail more than anything and ended up having to fight our way back up quite a big mountain," Foster said. "In the second half we put them under the pump possession-wise but when we did have opportunities we weren't clinical enough. You can't afford to miss those opportunities.
"The frustrating thing was that, in spite of all that, we still hit the lead with three minutes to go and lost it."
All Blacks halfback Brendon Leonard was badly missed but he is at home, still struggling with a knee injury and won't be called up to face the Lions. That situation could change, however, if the final round match against the Sharks in Durban becomes a semifinal decider. Foster said Leonard was jogging but not yet able to accelerate. A decision on whether to send him to South Africa would be taken later this week.
