Rugby: Tuifua bulks up Chiefs' options

Taiasina Tuifua playing for Counties Manukau. Photo / Getty Images

Counties Manukau forward Taiasina Tuifua will make his Super 15 debut for the Chiefs tonight after All Black Tanerau Latimer failed to recover from an ankle injury.

The Samoan-born 26-year-old will start at blindside flanker as the Chiefs face the high-flying Stormers, with the versatile Liam Messam switching to openside. Fritz Lee stays at No 8 and Bay of Plenty's Sam Cane will remain on the bench as loose forward cover.

At 1.95m and 114kg, Tuifua, who also plays lock, will add considerable bulk to the Chiefs' pack and another lineout option against a team that humiliated them 49-15 in Hamilton last year.

However, the Chiefs will continue to miss Latimer's experience and savvy - he was returning from concussion - as well as his fetching ability.

Coach Ian Foster said he expected a slightly "looser" style of rugby from the Stormers as they look to kick off their four-match Australasian tour with a win. Most of the Cape Town side's success this season has been based around outstanding defensive patterns, but Foster sees that changing slightly.

"They played a big part in that magnificent game last weekend [against the Crusaders]," Foster said. "They tend to loosen up a little bit when they're on tour and they will target the first game."

Contradicting that viewpoint to a degree was Stormers' captain Schalk Burger who told a rugby website that he favoured a more structured approach to counter the Chiefs' unpredictability.

"At the end of the day the result is always more important than how you play," Burger said. "The important thing against a team as unpredictable as them is to keep the game as structured as possible.

"With a team as dangerous as them, you simply can't give them turnovers or launch aimless kicks, because they thrive off that.

"The key would be to be a bit more structured and ... put them under pressure from the outset."

The Chiefs are fourth in the New Zealand conference and ninth on the overall table.