Chiefs 36
Lions 29
They may have pulled off a great escape against the Lions, but the Chiefs paid a heavy price, losing sparkplug wing Lelia Masaga to an ankle injury that is likely to rule him out of the forthcoming trip to South Africa.
Masaga will have scans today to assess the damage to the winger's ankle ligaments but coach Ian Foster said the early prognosis "doesn't look too good".
"He was seeing a surgeon [yesterday] and getting a scan on it before we come to too many conclusions. But it is looking increasingly likely he will miss the trip."
The injury is a further blow to a squad already with significant injury concerns in its outside backs division.
All Black flier Sitiveni Sivivatu sat out Saturday's come-from-behind victory with a shoulder injury. Although Sivivatu is likely to tour, Foster said there was no guarantee he would be fit to face the Cheetahs in Kimberley in a fortnight.
James Wilson is still three weeks away from recovering from a hamstring tear and is highly unlikely to tour but Soseni Anesi is close to full fitness after an extended absence with a shoulder injury. Anesi will undergo a fitness test on Thursday.
Having posted a fifth straight win on Saturday when they ran down a 19-point deficit in the final 20 minutes, the Chiefs head into their bye week with their place in the top four secure.
They currently sit second, level on 27 points with the Waratahs but with a five-point buffer back to the Crusaders in fifth who also have the bye this weekend.
Such an elevated position for the Chiefs looked distinctly unlikely when Earl Rose pouched an intercept from a Stephen Donald pass and raced 80m to put the Lions 29-10 13 minutes into the second half on Saturday night.
The Chiefs had paid a heavy price for a skittish approach to a match they were expected to win handsomely. A number of handling errors, including a shocker from Sione Lauaki that led to a Lions try, and a badly misfiring lineout contributed to their woes.
Foster, though, was delighted with a fightback that saw Dwayne Sweeney grab a hat-trick and replacement hooker Hika Elliot score a try and set up another in what was a withering 26-point burst.
"To come through it and respond in that sort of fashion was very pleasing," Foster said. "I don't think we got complacent or arrogant with the way we were playing. We probably just got a little frustrated with their attempts to slow down the game. We got very lateral early and tried to force the game a bit too much.
"We were under pressure, no doubt about it.
"But we were able to regroup at halftime and probably have a bit more of a clear plan of what we wanted to do. The way the boys executed that plan was fantastic."
The Chiefs are well placed to push for a semifinal spot but they will need to improve on a poor recent record in South Africa.
They start against the lowly Cheetahs but then have tougher assignments against the Bulls in Pretoria and the Stormers in Cape Town.
"We are in a good spot," said Foster, "but there are still five games to go and a lot is going to change in that period."
