Rugby: Chiefs aim to get all facets firing

Andrew Horrell comes in for Tim Nanai-Williams. Photo / Getty Images

One week they had a spectacular scrum and an impotent attack. Seven days later the situation was reversed.

If the Chiefs manage to combine the best of both aspects against the Sharks this weekend, the message sent in Durban will be received loud and clear by the rest of the competition.

While Dave Rennie opted for two changes in both the backline and the front row ahead of tomorrow morning's match, it's the switches in the forwards that hint at the main area in need of amending.

After dominating the Highlanders a fortnight ago to the extent they were awarded a pair of penalty tries, the Chiefs' scrum was seriously deficient the following week against the Stormers.

The pressure applied every time the two teams packed down saw the Chiefs wilt in the first half, giving away possession on their own feed and ceding field position when the Stormers put in the ball. But steady improvements were made in the second spell and, by the end of the match, the Chiefs even earned a couple of scrum penalties of their own. And considering those improvement coincided with the introduction of Jamie Mackintosh and Siate Tokolahi, it's no surprise the pair retain their places at Kings Park.

"We steeled up late in the second half [against the Stormers] but we're going to have to be good against the Sharks," Rennie said. "They've got an outstanding scrum as well so it'll certainly be an area they'll target, we think."

There was little to suggest the Chiefs scrum would be the target of opposition sides ahead of the trip to the Republic. The set piece had performed capably earlier in the season, even excelling against the Highlanders, but South African sides always provide a different challenge.

In any case, as the Chiefs have discovered, the winning of the match is not necessarily done at scrum time. That solid scrum when they faced the Highlanders couldn't save them from defeat, while last week's average effort against the Stormers didn't prevent them from earning the victory.

Instead, it was a poor attack that felled the Chiefs when they faced the Highlanders and, equally, it was their sparking attacking play that produced victory a week later.

With the aim of maintaining that form, changes to the backline were kept to a minimum for the encounter with the Sharks, with a new midfield combination of Seta Tamanivalu and Andrew Horrell replacing the injury-hit Tim Nanai-Williams (broken finger) and Sonny Bill Williams (concussion).

Williams has been symptom-free for most of the week and would have been touch-and-go for the game but, with plenty of cover in the midfield stocks, the Chiefs opted against risking him.

In any case, tomorrow's game may not call for the competition's leading off-loader, with the heavy humidity in Durban creating difficult conditions and potentially limiting the expansive nature of the Chiefs' attack.

"It's almost like playing in drizzle and it's probably a reason why the Sharks kick the ball a fair bit," Rennie said. "We also want to play a bit of territory but we're keen to use the ball when it's on. You just have to be really accurate in regards to your skillset in Durban, because the ball does tend to be slippery."