KEY POINTS:
It was great at the time, but the Chiefs have consigned their upset victory over Super 14 rugby leaders the Crusaders to history.
They don't want to look back, coach Ian Foster says. They want to look ahead to the hurdles still before them, beginning with the Queensland Reds in Hamilton tomorrow night.
"If you guys can stop talking about the Crusaders game, it would be great," he told reporters.
Foster indicated that there was no hangover from being the first side to topple the Crusaders this season.
Instead, it had been easy to get his players' minds back on the job this week.
"We did our usual celebrations after the game and we've done our recovery," he said.
"Now, it's a chance for us to focus on the next task. For us, it's a pretty simple formula of just getting it right each week and getting excited about playing on Saturday."
The Chiefs go up against the 10th-placed Reds as one of the form sides of the competition, having won their last four matches.
That streak has them in fifth position and in firm contention for the playoffs, although they have a tough run-in with a trip to Western Australia and South Africa to come.
One concern is that, having already been hit hard by injuries this campaign, the Chiefs' casualty ward is starting to fill up again.
Halfback Brendon Leonard, prop Simms Davison and midfield back Callum Bruce, who would all have probably been starters, have been relegated to bracketed positions on the bench.
Final decisions on their availability will be made tomorrow.
Leonard (bruised knee) is regarded as the most doubtful, Davison (upper leg strain) is rated 50-50, while Bruce (ankle) is the most hopeful case.
For the Chiefs' fans, one of the most heartening aspects of recent weeks is how their forwards have developed.
Having begun the season with question marks over their competitiveness, the pack have also had to cope with long-term injuries to skipper Jono Gibbes and fellow lock Kristian Ormsby.
But they showed how far they had travelled with their staunch effort against the Crusaders.
"It's no doubt they've come on a bit," Foster said.
"We lost a lot of experience from last year and we had Jono and Kristian knocked out early, which was really disappointing."
He said what the past couple of months had shown was that players, especially a pack of forwards, needed time to gel and to find a rhythm.
The likes of locks Toby Lynn and Kevin O'Neill, and May hadn't been used to being regular starters in the Super 14.
"I guess we learnt a few lessons early," he said.
"Credit to the guys that we learnt the lessons well and we continue to progress."
The sequence of good results has also coincided with Stephen Donald's improved form and the first five-eighth was in superb touch against the Crusaders.
Foster said Donald had never been far off his game early on, but had certainly grown in confidence of late.
However, he stressed that Donald wasn't the only one tasked with calling the shots on the park.
"There's growing confidence in our eight-nine-10-12 combination and we've got a back three that's contributing," he said.
"That really makes the decision-making much easier."
- NZPA
