KEY POINTS:
Chiefs 32 Hurricanes 39
The Chiefs have once again opted to take their bad luck in one early season dose - learning yesterday that Sosene Anesi has fractured his neck.
The one-cap All Black felt some stiffness in his shoulder at halftime during Friday night's last-minute loss to the Hurricanes and it worsened overnight. By morning, it was sore enough to merit further investigation and a scan revealed the C6 and C7 vertebrae were fractured.
Coach Ian Foster said more tests would be needed before any decisions could be reached about Anesi's playing future. Anesi, who thinks he might have injured himself in an early tackle, will be lucky to find a seat in the Chiefs medical room.
Skipper Jono Gibbes tore a calf muscle five minutes into the game and is expected to be out for four to six weeks and Richard Kahui's shoulder has still not improved enough to travel to South Africa. Tasesa Lavea's knee ligament damage will sideline him for another month at least, Sione Lauaki's wrist is a couple of weeks away from healing and while Keith Robinson has travelled, he's unlikely to play the Stormers on Saturday.
Foster is hopeful Robinson will return for the clash against the Bulls on February 24 and remains upbeat about his side's chances, despite starting with two losses.
"I think we are just glad to be getting on the plane," said Foster. "I still feel there have been a lot of positives and again the game against the Hurricanes was one we should have won. We just have to give it a crack in South Africa. I suppose you could look at it like this - we have two points, which is two more than we had at this stage last year and we went on to miss the playoffs by just two points."
The Chiefs certainly created enough opportunities on Friday night to generate a level of confidence about their future prospects.
Their lineout was again dysfunctional, tapping down scraps to impressive halfback Brendon Leonard. Their handling left much to be desired and Kristian Ormsby and Niva Ta'auso both blew gilt-edged try opportunities.
The defensive line, too, remains a little too porous and, with so much quality in their backrow, the Chiefs will be puzzled why they have not been dominating the breakdown.
Yet despite these areas still being well short of where they should be, the Chiefs have just about won both their games. Foster believes if they are that competitive playing that badly, they must be contenders if they can reduce the error count, sharpen their lineout and find some confidence.
The Crusaders and Hurricanes, in particular, are going to be totally different teams in the final weeks of the competition when they get their All Blacks back and the Chiefs can't afford to start their run from too far back.
Chiefs 32 (B. Leonard, L. Messam, R. Kinikinilau, T. Willis tries; S. Donald 3 cons, 2 pens) Hurricanes 39 (A. Mathewson, S. Lilo, M. Nonu, T. Umaga, P. Tito tries; J. Gopperth 4 cons, 2 pens). HT 19-15.
Chiefs squad for South African matches: Cory Aporo, Steven Bates, Ben Castle, Simms Davison, Aled de Malmanche, Stephen Donald, Marty Holah, Roy Kinikinilau, Tanerau Latimer, Sione Lauaki, Brendon Leonard, Toby Lynn, Lelia Masaga, Liam Messam, Jamie Nutbrown, Kristian Ormsby, Keith Robinson, Dwayne Sweeney, Anthony Tahana, Niva Ta'auso, Tane Tu'ipulotu, Andrew van der Heijden, Craig West, Nathan White, Murray Williams, Tom Willis.
