Rugby: Scrums and skills Chiefs' main priority

The Chiefs remain in fourth place despite two consecutive losses. Photo / Christine Cornege

While the Chiefs' fast start to the Super 14 now appears as a false dawn, two losses on the bounce is no reason for fans to slip into a fortnight of despair.

The Chiefs were second-best against the Crusaders on Friday, were short-changed by the weather gods and still managed to finish within seven points of the team picked by many to win it all.

Yes, they have lost two home games in a row, but it would be wrong to stick this one on the same shelf as the loss to the Reds. Whereas that match highlighted a lack of application, against the Crusaders the Chiefs were utterly committed.

"It was a tight clash. They [Crusaders] clearly controlled the set-piece well and that enabled them to have prolonged periods where they controlled the ball.

"They played us around the fringes pretty well," coach Ian Foster said.

"It hurts, but there are enough good things in that game to let us go away to the bye, ponder, and come back with some enthusiasm - and the bonus point, we'll take it."

Of course they will. In fact, the collection of sneaky bonus points should go a long way to softening the blow.

Five games, three wins, yet they finished this weekend ahead of the 4-1 Brumbies on points difference, and two points clear of the Waratahs and Hurricanes, who both have the same win-loss records.

They'll lose that toe-hold on a top-four slot over the weekend when they have a bye, but that should not worry them.

More than any other team the Chiefs could use a break right now. In order of priority their next two weeks should go something like this: scrum, rest, scrum, skills work, scrum, lineout, scrum.

Some of the Chiefs' problems in the contentious set-piece are not of their own making. Losing Ben May to a long-term injury was unhelpful, though they had plenty of time to plan around that.

The ongoing injury to James McGougan, however, has meant far more game time at this stage of the season than would have been planned for Sona Taumalolo and Nathan White.

The former is a bustling presence around the track but he struggled against the Crusaders' front row. Ben Afeaki, who Foster would want to ease slowly into his first season of Super 14, also came up short in his brief appearance on Friday.

As it was, the Chiefs were a couple of decent set-pieces (Aled de Malmanche's throwing to the lineout disintegrated in the squally conditions) from snatching an unlikely draw, but were bustled too easily off their own ball.

Scrums are notoriously fickle and the success or otherwise on the eight-man shove can often come down to the mood of the referee on the night.

But one thing is certain: unless the Chiefs can provide a better platform from the scrum, it will matter little that they potentially have the most damaging backs in the competition.

Canberra in two weeks' time will provide the perfect forum for a set-piece resurgence.