Seb Siataga delighted with his Chiefs debut

STEPPING UP: Seb Siataga in action for the Chiefs against the Hurricanes in Hamilton last Friday. PHOTO: Kevin Booth

There is a day of reckoning in every rugby player's career when they have to step up in the heat of battle and confront the best.

For Chiefs and Bay of Plenty hooker Seb Siataga that moment came 48 minutes into Friday night's epic encounter against the Hurricanes at a sodden Waikato Stadium.

He replaced Hika Elliott and went head-to-head with All Blacks hooker Dane Coles, renowned for his aggressive approach and liking for a chat in the midst of the front row contest.

It was Siataga's Super Rugby debut and he was delighted with how well he performed under the sternest of tests.

"I was notified on Monday by the coach that I would be on the bench so sort of had the whole week to prep for it which was ideal," he said.

"I was pretty happy at set piece time. There was one lineout where I processed the call wrong but overall it went well. It helped having [Steamers prop] Ziggy [Fisi'ihoi] out there with him being as big as he is.

"For me it has just been a bit of a blur and I am sort of just riding the wave. Obviously I am excited and once you get a taste you don't want to let go so looking forward to the next job really," Siataga said.

He says there were obvious differences stepping up from Mitre 10 Cup to Super Rugby.

"Physicality is a massive one and winning races around the field, plus just how quickly things can change. So how many numbers you have on defence and how many numbers on attack and being able to communicate it is two times as fast as Mitre 10 Cup or club rugby in the Bay."

Siataga played so well coach Dave Rennie has named him to start at hooker against the Melbourne Rebels in Melbourne on Friday night (9.45pm kick-off), with Bay of Plenty's Nathan Harris still on the injured list.

"I am just holding on to what I have here from week to week while there are injuries out. There are a few boys coming back into the mix this week and Nate is obviously a few weeks away."

Chiefs captain and another staunch Bay of Plenty rep in Sam Cane added enhanced intensity and leadership to the Chiefs.

"His legacy sort of speaks for itself," Siataga said. "His first game back from All Blacks duties and from his ankle injury and he was one of the best on the field.

"He is a real approachable guy which is awesome and you can learn off him pretty quickly so having him on the field meant a lot especially being on debut."

The message coming out of the Chiefs camp all week has been they will not be taking the winless Melbourne Storm lightly.

"We are definitely happy with how we are tracking but the massive focus for this week has been we can't go to Melbourne and not put [in] a performance that we are proud of as a team," Siataga said.

"We are stoked to be three from three, particularly with the teams we have played, but we want to put in a good performance in Melbourne and go into the bye week with a bit of confidence to come back and play the Bulls."

The Chiefs team to play the Melbourne Rebels, Friday, 9.45pm

1. Kane Hames (12), 2. Seb Siataga (1), 3. Nepo Laulala (3), 4. Dominic Bird (14), 5. Brodie Retallick (74), 6. Tom Sanders (16), 7. Sam Cane (co-captain) (83), 8. Liam Messam (148), 9. Tawera Kerr-Barlow (70), 10. Damian McKenzie (36), 11. Solomon Alaimalo**, 12. Stephen Donald (92), 13. Anton Lienert-Brown (27), 14. Toni Pulu (16), 15. Shaun Stevenson (10)
Reserves: 16. Hika Elliot (107), 17. Siegfried Fisi'ihoi (14), 18. Atu Moli (14), 19. Mitchell Brown (5), 20. Mitchell Karpik (1), 21. Finlay Christie (1), 22. Aaron Cruden (co-captain) (76), 23. Johnny Faauli (2).