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Home / Sport / Rugby / Super Rugby

Rugby: Hard work ahead for winless Chiefs

Gregor Paul
By Gregor Paul
Reporter·Herald on Sunday·
21 Feb, 2009 03:00 PM2 mins to read

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KEY POINTS:

Three guesses what the Chiefs will spend this week doing - that's right, lineouts and scrummaging, as they attempt to rebuild a set-piece that disintegrated in Sydney.

Coach Ian Foster made the simple observation after defeat to the Waratahs that if his side doesn't tighten its work in
both the scrum and lineout, then it will be a long and painful season for the Chiefs.

Yet, despite his disappointment that the lineout in particular descended into farce, Foster is not without hope. He's not despondent, not fearful that the Chiefs will once again just about play their way out of contention before April.

"In a nut shell, I think there were some really good goods and some really bad bads," he said of the 11-7 loss to the Waratahs.

"We are not going to get very far if we scrum and lineout like that. We played a good Super 14 side with no ball stuck inside our own 25.

"But we worked hard on our defence and that kept us in the game. I believe this squad is a long way ahead of where we were this time last year."

If that sounds more like wishful thinking it's worth remembering that the Chiefs have encountered last year's finalists in their first two games and will meet the Sharks in Hamilton on Saturday - the South Africans finishing third in the round-robin last year.

Not only are they up against the best, the Crusaders, Waratahs and indeed the Sharks all possess strong tight fives and build much of their game around their accuracy and control at the set-piece.

The quality of those sides has prevented a new and inexperienced Chiefs' tight five from enjoying a gentle entry to Super 14.

Gone from last year's squad are Jono Gibbes, Kristian Ormsby, Ben Castle, Simms Davison and Tom Willis. That exodus has left the Chiefs with no established combinations and it was that lack of game time together that has been fingered as the source of problems.

"It is all about combinations in that area," said Foster. "We have some problem-solving to do and we are not going to be short of motivation.

"We study our programme more than anyone else so we have always known the challenges of the first three weeks.

"We are not discouraged there have been some good things to take out of the first two games."

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