Lowen likely to play against Brumbies

The tale of two Keiths took an upward twist for the Chiefs yesterday when centre Keith Lowen took a full part in rugby training for the first time in over two weeks.

Chiefs manager Glenn Ross reported Lowen had a defensive session and full team run with no apparent ill-effects on his injured hamstring.

That makes him almost certain to be available for Saturday's crucial Super 12 rugby match against the Brumbies at Waikato Stadium, where the home side need just one competition point to reach the semifinals for the first time.

Lowen has missed three of the Chiefs' last four matches, injuring ribs in the win over the Highlanders in Dunedin on April 2, missing the loss to the Cats in Johannesburg as a result, then tearing a hamstring towards the end of the victory against the Sharks in Durban in his comeback the following week.

Lowen then missed games against the Stormers and Bulls back in Hamilton as his recovery took longer than expected - two matches that senior lock Keith Robinson also missed due to a back injury.

Robinson was again a spectator yesterday and remains doubtful for the final round-robin match against the Brumbies, although Ross said team management had not given up hope of having his services this week.

Halfback Byron Kelleher, with a badly bruised thigh, sat out training yesterday but is expected to be available for the Brumbies match.

Meanwhile, New Zealand-born back-up loose forward and impact player Tamaiti Horua is unlikely to travel to Hamilton with the Brumbies this week.

Horua missed last weekend's win over the Hurricanes in Canberra following the sudden death of his girlfriend in Melbourne last week.

He is due back in Canberra tomorrow but coach David Nucifora does not expect him to travel with the team to New Zealand, with his place likely to be taken by the man who filled in last weekend - Fijian Jone Tawake.

Tawake played 10 times for the Waratahs before moving to the Brumbies this season.

Nucifora was reported in yesterday's Canberra Times as saying the table-topping Brumbies had come this far and now they wanted to "finish the job off".

He said the Hurricanes had exploited the Brumbies' weakness in defending turnover ball and warned the Chiefs would use that against them on Saturday at Waikato Stadium if they didn't improve in that area.

- NZPA