Super rugby: Chiefs look to fix defensive holes after letting Brumbies run riot

The Chiefs will be facing the sunwolves in their next match. Photo / Photosport

Chiefs captain Brodie Retallick wasn't wrong when he said his side have to work on their defence this week.

The Chiefs conceded eight tries for just the third time in their history on Saturday in a 54-17 thrashing to the Brumbies in Canberra.

There were clearly holes in their defensive plan and the Brumbies exposed them, getting 15 clean breaks and running for 463 metres while the Chiefs managed just two line breaks and 165 running metres.

Retallick seemed to be surprised by his side's inept play on the defensive end.

"I thought we had a good week and we prepared reasonably well back home. We knew exactly where they were going to come at us up front with the scrum and the lineout but there's not much I can say, they took it to us and they took their chances when they were on offer," Retallick said.

"When we held the ball in the first half, we created some real opportunities and just sometimes on our defence we let them with an error or we couldn't quite get our system right. That was where they really punished us. We're going to have to get that right before we head into next week against the Sunwolves."

Without slapping Saturday's clash with the dreaded early season 'must-win' tag – it's actually not far off. The prospect of a 0-3 Chiefs and what lies ahead in March would be close to a season write-off if they suffer a loss this weekend.

The Sunwolves provide an interesting prospect in Hamilton this week.

The Chiefs had no trouble against them last year, winning 61-10 in Tokyo, but the Japanese side should head to New Zealand with some confidence after pushing the Waratahs in a 31-30 defeat on Saturday. The Sunwolves were a botched dropped goal attempt away from sneaking out a win.

After admitting he only saw brief moments of the game in Tokyo, Retallick wasn't playing down his next opponents.

"Each week is tough in this competition. It's take no prisoners," he said of Saturday's fixture.

No disrespect to the Sunwolves, but they shouldn't be as tough as the following two opponents that await the Chiefs.

They head to Christchurch to attempt to hand the Crusaders their first defeat in 21 games at the venue before hosting the Hurricanes six days later. Following that brutal fortnight they then hop on a plane to South Africa.