Rugby: Cane well-rested to tackle Highlanders

Sam Cane is back to take on the Highlanders this Saturday. Photo / Getty Images

A well-rested Sam Cane should send a shudder down the spine of any Highlander who attacks the line this Saturday night.

Cane has this season been a tackling machine - relentless in repetition and unerring in accuracy - to help an injury-hit Chiefs team achieve their typically-lofty defensive targets.

The flanker has made 172 tackles to sit narrowly second in his position behind Michael Hooper, but it's Cane's efficiency that really raises eyebrows. He has missed only four tackles in 14 games, good for a competition-leading 98 per cent success rate, while Hooper in contrast has missed 26.

And after the Chiefs' defence had its worst outing of the year in last month's heavy defeat to the Highlanders, missing 15 tackles to allow four tries and 36 points, Cane knows he will must be on point for Saturday's showdown in Dunedin.

It's a good thing, then, that Cane is feeling fresher than he has all campaign. Starting with Tanerau Latimer's departure and his own elevation to a consistent starter in the No7 jersey, the 23-year-old has finally experienced the true toll of the arduous Super Rugby season.

After missing the Chiefs' second game in February, Cane started the next 13 fixtures, leading his side with 1058 minutes. To offer an idea of Cane's increased workload, he exceeded even the output of ironman Liam Messam (987), having previously never come within 400 minutes of his teammate's total.

So it's understandable that Cane accepted last week's rest with mixed emotions - frustrated to watch on helplessly as the Chiefs dropped an important encounter with the Hurricanes but thankful for a timely chance to put up the feet.

"I really enjoyed the week off," he said, a rare statement to hear from such a driven athlete. "It wasn't very easy sitting on the couch and watching the boys but I probably needed it a little bit more than I thought.

"I've played a bit of footy and, while a lot of work has gone in to get to this stage of the season and you just want to be contributing, coming in Monday I was a lot better than I felt on previous Mondays.

"And I definitely enjoyed coming back in for a quarter-final. I'm obviously pretty excited and the body's feeling pretty good as well."

That will be unfortunate news for the Highlanders' ball-runners, but Cane acknowledges the southern side have little reason to truly fear the Chiefs. Not after handing Dave Rennie's men two of their six defeats this season and certainly not after the nature of that second result.

Cane expects, given the romp in Invercargill, the Highlanders will adopt a similar approach on Saturday night - playing at the right end of the field, tiring out the opposition defence through prolonged spells of possession, before exploiting weakness out wide. But he also warns that a dry track under the Dunedin roof renders his own side a much more dangerous prospect.

"The way they put us away, they'd be silly not to stick to a similar sort of gameplan," Cane said. "But [Forsyth Barr Stadium] is a bit of a treat for visiting teams.

"It just makes your preparation easier throughout the week, knowing that you're guaranteed a dry ball and can play a bit more of an expansive game."