Super Rugby: Chiefs confident ahead of visit from Blues brothers

Nathan Harris in typical form with ball in hand for the Chiefs. Photo / Photosport.nz

The Chiefs are not getting fooled by the woeful form shown by the Blues ahead of tonight's clash in Hamilton.

The Blues conceded 63 points at Eden Park to an average Sharks team last start while the Chiefs showed plenty of intestinal fortitude to subdue the Highlanders 27-22.

The Chiefs are in a rich vein of form with four consecutive wins but head coach Colin Cooper is taking nothing for granted.

"There is a great rivalry between the Chiefs and the Blues, and this time it is in our whare. The Blues are going to bring everything. They'll be coming with a lot of passion this weekend.

"We've shown a lot of heart which is great, but we just need to make sure that we play a bit smarter. The Blues will be dangerous. We need to make sure that we have our structures right, our attitude right, and play the game we know we can play.

"They are great ball carriers so we need to make sure that we tackle well and that our defence systems work."

Bay of Plenty hooker Nathan Harris remembers how tough every Chiefs v Blues game has been, including round three this year at Eden Park when the Chiefs just got home 27-21.

"To be honest we see the Blues as being a very strong side. We have already played them this year and we had a close win. New Zealand derby wins are hard to come by with big physical battles. It doesn't really matter who we play. We don't underestimate our opposition at all," Harris said.

He is more than happy with the start to the season for the Chiefs.

"Definitely up there you know. We have had some short turnarounds and put in some good performances. We are still itching to get the perfect performance but we are definitely trying to build towards something."

Harris loves playing against the New Zealand conference teams with the intensity in the derbies showing what these games mean to the players.

"It is good to play guys of pretty similar calibre and everyone puts a lot of heart and soul into those games. So yeah it is very challenging. Defensively we just have to make sure we get our structures right and bringing a big physical presence is also key."

Coach Cooper has made three changes to the starting fifteen from the hard-fought victory over the Highlanders last weekend.

The tight five is again unchanged: Lachlan Boshier coming back into the number 6 jersey, Pita Gus Sowakula forces his way into the starting line-up after a strong debut off the bench last week and lively halfback Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi gets a start at halfback, with Jonathan Taumateine backing him up in the number 21 jersey.

The match kicks off at FMG Waikato Stadium at 7.35pm.

Chiefs team to take on the Blues
1. Aidan Ross (11), 2. Nathan Harris (36), 3. Angus Ta'avao (5), 4. Brodie Retallick (89), 5. Tyler Ardron (3), 6. Lachlan Boshier (24), 7. Sam Cane (100) (cc), 8. Pita Gus Sowakula (1), Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi (5), 10. Damian McKenzie (55), 11. Sean Wainui (5), 12. Johnny Faauli (11), 13. Anton Lienert-Brown (45), 14. Toni Pulu (24), 15. Solomon Alaimalo (14)
Reserves: 16. Liam Polwart (11), 17. Karl Tu'inukuafe (4), 18. Jeff Thwaites (2), 19. Luke Jacobson (2), 20. Liam Messam (167), 21. Jonathan Taumateine (6), 22. Charlie Ngatai (45) (cc), 23. Marty McKenzie (10)