Pressure from pups means nothing to battle-weary Kelleher

Byron Kelleher has always been used to a bit of a logjam when it comes to staking a claim for an All Black jumper.

After all, he sustained more than his fair share of splinters sitting on the bench as he watched Justin Marshall dominate for close to a decade.

But now the 29-year-old is facing pressure from a swagger of young halfbacks snapping at his bootlaces.

Of course, there's Piri Weepu, Kevin Senio, Andrew Ellis and even Chiefs team-mate Jamie Nutbrown.

But Kelleher is a wise, old dog these days and isn't concerned about the young pretenders.

"To tell you the truth, I concentrate on my game," he said, showing the signs of a tough 80 minutes of rugby against the Bulls last night.

"I'm not too worried about other people because it adds pressure to your own game. I have to concentrate on what I do best."

Kelleher might not have been at his best last night - he was tidy around the park and snappy with most of his service - but the fact he was playing and healthy was a breakthrough.

He popped and then broke a rib in the second game of the season and came off the bench last weekend against the Highlanders as Nutbrown held on to the No 9 jersey.

"It's been a while since I played 80 minutes of rugby," he admitted. "The old body was stuck together with a few bandaids for a while which makes it pretty hard to play on injuries. It is probably a lesson to pull out of playing unless you're fully fit so you're right on top of your game.

"I felt pretty good. My work rate was good, I made a lot of tackles and did a lot of hustling.

I felt like I was getting back to my game, where Byron Kelleher is back to his best is nearly there," he said, slipping into the third person.

Kelleher's enthusiasm was tempered somewhat by the Chiefs being held to a 26-26 draw by the Bulls, which did little to improve their semifinal chances.

"It's looking like we have to try to get maximum points in the next two games [against the Stormers and the Cheetahs]," Kelleher said.

"There are still a few games left but we don't want to just making up the numbers. We seriously want to compete and want to get up to the top four."

If Kelleher can propel his side to the playoffs, he will also have gone a long way to hanging on to an All Black jersey.

-HERALD ON SUNDAY