Rugby: Backline talent to burn

Lelia Masaga is a danger man for the Chiefs. Photo / Christine Cornege

It's accepted wisdom that rugby games are won between numbers one and five - Pat Lam admitted as much yesterday - but nobody is looking forward to this game for the set-piece battle.

Instead they'll be watching numbers 11, 14 and 15, where some of the most exciting backline talent in the world resides.

Sitiveni Sivivatu, Lelia Masaga and Tim Nanai-Williams have awesome game-breaking potential for the Chiefs, potential at least matched in the visitors' changing shed where Joe Rokocoko, Rene Ranger and Isaia Toeava are given licence to thrill.

On the one hand, said Blues centre Jared Payne, it makes his job easy.

"With the amount of strike-power we've got in this team it's pretty easy to catch and pass and whenever they're all worried about them [the outside backs] you have a little run yourself," he said.

"It's a pretty simple formula, really."

That may be so, but few have managed to free their outsides with such adroitness as Payne, who is in his first year with the Blues this season.

It has inevitably seen his name passed under the World Cup microscope.

It might initially seem fanciful, but at closer inspection he might not offer the raw power and line-breaking ability of Robbie Fruean - the other name that keeps getting bandied about for higher honours - but he plays in a similar vein to incumbent Conrad Smith and has the added advantage of utility value.

"I'm not too worried about that. My first and only goal is to make the final with the Blues," Payne, 25, said. "If that [All Blacks selection] comes around it would be nice but I'm not too worried about that yet."

Payne's sudden elevation from a good player to a possible All Black can be put down to his feeling more comfortable with his game. While he used to get "uptight" when he made mistakes, he has come to the realisation that everyone makes them.

"It's how you react to them, what you do after them that makes a difference."

Mistakes are a theme Chiefs' coach Ian Foster has had plenty of time to contemplate over the competition's opening rounds.

Hypothetically, the Chiefs would be walking out tonight with a 4-1 record rather than 2-3 if they had not gifted away try-scoring opportunities against the Brumbies in round one and the Hurricanes in round four.

That's bygones though. The gutsy win against the Sharks has got the team back on the rails and all he's worried about is poking sticks at the Blues' weak points, if there are any.

"We've got a couple of areas where we will be targeting, but at this level calling them weaknesses is not the right term," Foster said. "It's more like areas where they might be susceptible to us getting in behind them."

"They are a quality team and have a heck of a lot of international experience across the park.

"They'd be pretty happy with where they're at so far this year so it's a nice time to have a big game."

But back to Payne. Asked what made this backline tick, he said it was the "x-factor".

"There's a lot of firepower here and a lot of the boys are starting to switch on a bit more with their decisions. If you combine that [good decision making] with the x-factor it's going to be a pretty exciting backline."

That description would work equally well for the Chiefs. He's already mentioned how easy his job is when the Blues have the ball. There's a significant flip-side tonight.

"I hope I don't have to tackle their outside backs too much, they're pretty tough to tackle."

* Sherwin Stowers has dropped out of the Blues 22 after Benson Stanley was ruled fit to take his place on the bench.