Rugby: All Black duo to bolster frustrated Chiefs

Richard Kahui. Photo / Christine Cornege

In what is already shaping as a must-win game for the franchise, the team at the bottom of the New Zealand conference after four rounds meet the unbeaten Sharks.

Helping them snap out of their malaise will be classy centre Richard Kahui, back from surgery to his shoulder in September, the third time he has had the troublesome body-part operated on.

Kahui will form an intriguing, vastly experienced midfield duo with Tana Umaga, who has recovered from his weekend's exertions which included hitting Shane Warne for six in the Fill The Basin earthquake relief cricket match.

Kahui has primed himself for his comeback with two matches for the Chiefs' development XV.

With the midfield backs looking like the most competitive area for All Black places - think Ma'a Nonu, Sonny Bill Williams, Conrad Smith, Robbie Fruean, Luke McAlister and Benson Stanley, to name just some - Kahui's path back into national colours is far from a fait accompli.

Joining Kahui in the starting 15 is Hika Elliot. The Hawkes Bay hooker has been a divisive figure over the years, but a brilliant ITM Cup showing for his province led to selection on the All Blacks' Grand Slam tour.

Keven Mealamu's two-game suspension saw Elliot get more game time on that tour than was expected and he not only impressed the selectors with his low-to-the-ground running and set-piece work, but his discipline as well.

He was slightly off the pace when he returned to the Chiefs and then an injury setback saw him miss the first two rounds. He played the next two off the bench and now gets his chance in the No 2 shirt, having edged Aled de Malmanche for the starting spot.

"He's pretty keen all right," said fellow front-rower, prop Nathan White.

"He's a classy player who always adds something when he comes on.

"Having said that, Aled has been fantastic for us. They push each other hard and that has to be good for us."

The Chiefs go into the match with just one win from four and in the frustrating position of knowing they are far better than a 25 per cent team.

On Saturday they dominated the Hurricanes for long periods, but too many times they squandered opportunities to score points.

"Our kickoffs have been going well," White said. "But on Saturday night we gave away soft ball too often. They say the most important time to control the ball is just after you've scored and we didn't do that.

"At one stage we were up 18-10. We made some soft mistakes and suddenly we were chasing the game."

Announcing his team, coach Ian Foster said "the key lessons from last week's frustrating loss were that we need to be more clinical and individuals need to take more responsibility for their skill areas".

It's a sentence he must feel he's wheeled out three times already.