Assistant coach Tom Coventry says the Chiefs will have to play smarter rugby if they want to avoid a repeat of last season’s woes against the Brumbies.
The men from ACT ended the Chiefs’ hopes of a three-peat of Super Rugby titles with a 32-30 win in the quarter-finals, which followed an earlier 41-23 hammering in the round-robin stage in Canberra.
The Australians were the pick of the bunch from the opening round of this year’s competition, with a clinical 47-3 dismantling of the Reds, and they will travel to New Plymouth for Friday’s clash with plenty of confidence.
“We’re very wary of them,” Coventry said.
“We respect them immensely but we’ll be trying to put them under a bit more pressure than we did in 2014.”
To do that, they will need to be consistently quick off the line on defence and disrupt the Brumbies’ quality set-piece, particularly the lineout.
“They like to exhaust a team. They like to put pressure on you in your own half,” Coventry added.
“We don’t want to get caught in our own half and then end up having to defend a strong lineout.
“We’ve got to be smart about how we get ourselves out of pressure but then also putting them under the same pressure down their end of the field.”
The return of All Blacks Aaron Cruden and Liam Messam to the starting line-up should help with that.
Messam, Sam Cane and Maama Vaipulu form a potent loose forward trio, while the combination of Brad Weber, Cruden, Sonny Bill Williams and Charlie Ngatai should test the Brumbies’ defence more than the Reds did.
James Lowe, who has switched from wing to fullback to accommodate the inclusion of Hosea Gear on the wing, provides another solid kicking option at the back.
Also promoted to the starting line-up is prop Jamie Mackintosh.
All Blacks Brodie Retallick, the 2014 world player of the year, and Augustine Pulu will bring impact off the bench.
Like all the All Blacks, Retallick’s workload is being carefully managed with the World Cup in mind, but the decision not to start him was made easier because of the performances of locks Matt Symons and Michael Fitzgerald.
“He’s got a lot of footy ahead of him,” Coventry said.
“We’re conscious of that and we’re conscious that as the season wears on Brodie is going to have a bigger and bigger workload. We’ve got to pace them (the All Blacks).”
kkiwwii
Guest
I live in waikato and i think wp would destroy them.. Off the top of my head only tameifuna messam weber and kerr-barlow are actually contracted to waikato
RobC
Roar Guru
Harry. WP vs Waikato, in Waikato. Fawning / frowning?
RobC
Roar Guru
The more we see of Rory the better. I hope to catch more of Coleman vs Reds too, along with Skelton.
RobC
Roar Guru
I think Bernie will have a few surprises for Rennie and Co And I think Rennie will have a few for Bernie too.
Markus
Guest
Arnold last week still looked very much like someone who has only been playing rugby for 2-3 years. I'd say Wallabies contention for the 2019 world cup is more likely at this point.
Play the Game
Guest
Best game this week.Should see some real fireworks in the backs, where you got two good set of backs, but the forwards as always will need to establish a platform with quick ball to the backs. 2 point in it, either way.No bets this week.
Harry Jones
Expert
This is a tasty matchup! Chiefs by 8.
Golden
Guest
This will be the game of the round to watch. Two heavy weight teams, ladened with international talent going at it for 80 minutes. I expect this to be a fast and ferocious blood bath with casualties on both sides. Bring it on!
Kuruki
Roar Guru
Lowe has been in some great form i can't wait to see him with a bit more space to run from fullback. Don't know why Big Mac has come into the starting side to be honest, seems one of the unnecessary changes the Chiefs have become accustomed to. Very very strong bench for the Chiefs this week. I hope we see a Chiefs pack willing to rumble the ball up and build some phases rather then just look to score from every possession which can often lead to a large list of unforced errors. I expect the Brumbies to come all guns blazing and dominate the first 30 minutes of this game, i think with the quality on the Chiefs bench they will be looking to come home strong.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Also looking forward to the clash of the back lines, some real meaty head to heads with thus one.
Simon_Sez
Roar Guru
I am looking forward to seeing how Rory Arnold from the Brumbies goes this week against a very strong Cheifs pack. He is in my opinion one of the possible bolters into the lock position for the Wallabies if he can come to grips with the speed and the violence at the breakdown.