When they run out against Super Rugby's top
qualifiers, the Hurricanes, in New Plymouth the Chiefs will know exactly what
they have to do to qualify for a home playoff game.
But Chiefs head coach Dave Rennie has warned of the dangers in getting too caught up pre-match with a points target on Saturday night as they try and pip the Highlanders for home advantage for next weekend's 4th v 5th qualifier.
The Highlanders played the Blues at Eden Park last night and whatever they achieved the Chiefs have to at least match it at Yarrow Stadium with the two sides level on points (48) and number of wins (10) going into the final round of the regular season.
The only thing separating the teams before this round is points differential where the Chiefs had a slim one-point advantage that put them into fourth. However, the Highlanders had the easier closing assignment against the 14th-placed Blues.
The last time the Chiefs and Hurricanes met the latter won 22-18 in Wellington four weeks ago, but the Chiefs, hit before and during the match by injuries to locks in particular, put up a strong performance and were unlucky not to have a try awarded to Augustine Pulu right at the end.
They know they have to up the ante this time rather leaving it to luck of the draw with decisions from the match officials.
"In the end we'll be pretty clear going in," said Chiefs head coach Dave Rennie. "But if we go in chasing a certain amount of points it can turn dog on you like it did to the Blues against us last year.
"So ultimately we need to apply pressure and if we apply pressure we can maybe turn that into points and then we can work out how many points we need but we just need to play and play well and let the other stuff sort itself out."
It will be left up to skipper Liam Messam and the onfield leaders during the match as to what needs to be done.
"Nothing changes from that point of view," Rennie said.
But while the Chiefs will not go into the match hung up on a specific points margin target they are pretty clear on what they need to do to win the match - be physical.
In the last two weeks since crashing to a poor defeat at the hands of the Highlanders in Dunedin they have had great success by upping the tempo against the Bulls and Reds, albeit the latter effort coming after a sluggish start.
They also know that yet again ball security and accurate kicking are the key to reducing the chances the Hurricanes' lethal counter-attack get.
But they know that against the Hurricanes it is physicality and abrasiveness that is needed for them to win the forward battle and therefore give them the edge on attack and defence.
There is no doubt there has been a keen edge at the Chiefs' training this week, particularly on Tuesday and Thursday, with things getting niggly and heated at times as the reserves played their part in taking it to the run-on team.
"We need that. Our spark plugs gave us plenty today [Thursday]. What always starts off as a passive defence turns into full tackle and a bit of pushing and shoving and swinging and so on, but that's good.
"It puts our boys on edge and we know when we play the Hurricanes there's going to be a bit of that from both sides so it gets you in the right sort of mindset," he said.
Brad Weber, who returns to the starting halfback spot for this match, said he was keen to get one back against the Hurricanes after being part of the losing effort last time but said that match had given them confidence.
"[In the changing room after that last match] a lot of frustration was going around but at the same time we were relatively happy about the way we played and it wasn't so sombre as you might think," Weber said.
"We took a lot of positives out of it and it gave us a lot of confidence going forward."
AT A GLANCE
Chiefs: Tom Marshall, Bryce Heem, Charlie Ngatai, Sonny Bill Williams, James Lowe, Marty McKenzie, Brad Weber, Maama Vaipulu, Michael Leitch, Liam Messam (captain), Brodie Retallick, Matt Symons, Ben Tameifuna, Quentin MacDonald, Pauliasi Manu. Reserves: Rhys Marshall, Siate Tokolahi, Jamie Mackintosh, Mike FitzGerald, Mitch Crosswell, Augustine Pulu, Andrew Horrell, Damian McKenzie.
Hurricanes: Nehe Milner-Skudder, Cory Jane, Conrad Smith (captain), Rey Lee-Lo, Julian Savea, James Marshall, TJ Perenara, Victor Vito, Callum Gibbins, Brad Shields, Mark Abbott, Jeremy Thrush, Ben Franks, Dane Coles, Reggie Goodes. Reserves: Brayden Mitchell, Chris Eves, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, James Broadhurst, Ardie Savea, Frae Wilson, Willis Halaholo, Sam McNicol.
Referee: Chris Pollock (NZ).
Kickoff: 7.35 tonight at Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth.
