Rugby: Chiefs waiting for word on Muliaina

Mils Muliaina. Photo / Christine Cornege.

The Chiefs will wait until a doctor's report today before making pronouncements about the health of captain Mils Muliaina, though early indications are positive.

Getting any sort of announcement about what the pitiful crowd will do to the health of the balance sheet will take a whole lot longer.

The official crowd figure for Saturday night's streak-breaking 38-10 win over the Rebels was 5500, a mere 19,500 under capacity.

A Chiefs spokesperson said they had a budgeted crowd figure for home games, "but we won't be releasing that information".

No doubt it comes under the all-encompassing umbrella of commercial sensitivity, but they may have to develop a thicker skin. The rain and the rag-tag opposition would not have helped, but the challenge will be to attract the "lost" fans back to Waikato Stadium in the hope of witnessing some magic.

There was scant evidence of that on Saturday night, but the Chiefs were hardly to blame. There was the all-too-familiar abundance of handling errors, but no more than there had been in Nelson 24 hours earlier, and that match between two fancied sides was played in perfect conditions.

The biggest problem in Hamilton was not the Chiefs or the weather, but the wretched standard of the opposition. The Rebels were dreadful. The ball they got was either kicked away by first five-eighth Danny Cipriani, or died in Julian Huxley's arms. The pair were not helped one bit by the fact they were operating behind a creaky scrum and wobbly lineout.

In a slow-burning start to the year, the Chiefs have to wait until round six before they get an attractive home fixture, against the Blues. There's then a three-week break before the Crusaders come to the region, but they play in Mt Maunganui rather than the franchise base of Hamilton.

It is not just the Chiefs who are struggling to attract numbers.

Despite the rebranding and reconfiguring of the competition, there is still little evidence that the public are willing to embrace rugby in February.

The advent of MySky has made it difficult to accurately calculate how many are watching the games, but it is understood ratings have generally been disappointing, including the blockbuster clash between the Blues and Crusaders in round one.

That's a problem for rugby bosses to continue to ponder, not Ian Foster.

His task is to make sure his team makes winning as much of a habit as losing became last season and into 2011.

That task will be easier if Muliaina is fit to face the well-rested Hurricanes at Westpac Stadium on Saturday.

Foster indicated that Muliaina's injury was likely to be bruising only.

His absence was mitigated by strong performances from the back three of Tim Nanai-Williams, Lelia Masaga and Sitiveni Sivivatu, who had too much pace and power for their opposition.