Rugby: Chiefs' injury problems deepen

The Chiefs' Richard Kahui tackles Highlander Israel Dagg. Photo / Getty Images

The Chiefs have stayed within spitting distance of the top four, but their chances of emulating last year's feat of making the final seems that little bit further away as the injury jinx struck again.

At the holiday enclave of Mt Maunganui, the Chiefs 27-21 victory over the Highlanders marked their first win since February 27, but there was one Easter break they would have liked to have avoided.

Captain Mils Muliaina broke his thumb in the win against the struggling Highlanders and is out for an indefinite period.

It was a cruel blow to the Chiefs, who have battled a mounting injury list as well as a loss of confidence.

Starting with the loss in off-season of prop Ben Afeaki to a long-term back injury, the Hamilton-based side is also missing Kevin O'Neill, Aled de Malmanche, Nathan White, James McGougan, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Tanerau Latimer.

Also spending time on the sidelines this season has been the previously indestructible Craig Clarke, Callum Bruce, Colin Bourke and Sione Lauaki.

It has made picking a team each week not so much a question of selection, but availability.

Coach Ian Foster will face a similar scenario on a short turnaround for this week's crunch match against the Bulls, who suffered their first loss in 13 Super rugby matches to the Blues on Saturday.

"We have further injuries because of the hard ground and the boys are sore," said Foster in the aftermath of the Chiefs' bounce-back win..

"Recovery will be the focus this week. We will have a tactical and mental preparation, rather than physical, for the Bulls.

"They might start to doubt a few areas [of their game] after that loss, but they will also be coming hard."

With Muliaina out, Mike Delany will be favoured to move back into the No 15 jersey, though much will depend on how Stephen Donald recovers from a head knock.

In many ways it would be a shame if the Delany-Donald five-eighth axis was not given another opportunity against the Bulls, because it showed real promise.

The win was hard-earned for the Chiefs and mostly deserved, even if certain elements of the match had the whiff of second division about them - especially if compared with the fare on offer the previous night in Wellington.

And you cannot escape the conclusion that the Highlanders had a gilt-edged chance to steal the match with seven minutes left.

Replacement first five-eighths Mat Berquist regathered fortuitously from an aimless kick and was faced with a simple draw-and-pass scenario to send another reserve, Tim Boys, in unopposed.

Berquist threw a poor, but entirely catchable, pass and Boys shelled it like a fourth-grade slips fielder.

For the New Zealand neutral, it was the desired result. The Highlanders' playoff hopes were long gone but at least this keeps the Chiefs in the hunt.

There are, however, one or two fundamentals they will need to make quantum leaps in if they are to remain anything other than a mathematical title hope.

First, the scrum. It doesn't help when you have most of your first-choice front row missing but the Chiefs' scrum was as sturdy as blancmange. The Bulls will have noticed that and will be preparing accordingly.

The lineout had its moments of misfire, too, which is criminal for the Chiefs because they have shown, with their backline, that they are as dangerous as any team with quality back-of-the-lineout ball - just witness Donald's first-half try for evidence.

Foster will be pleased, however, with the mileage he got from flankers Liam Messam and Luke Braid.

Messam had one or two first half glitches but got stronger as the game progressed and just shaded his opposite, All Black Adam Thomson.

Braid's form was such that when Latimer returns, Foster will have a genuine selection dilemma.