KEY POINTS:
The Chiefs have fingers crossed for Stephen Donald, but are fearing the worst over rugged lock Keith Robinson as they aim to halt a horror Super 14 start against the Bulls in Pretoria this weekend.
First five-eighth Donald twinged a groin muscle in their depressing 21-16 loss to
the bottom-placed Stormers in Cape Town last Saturday.
"We'll assess him in the next couple of days," coach Ian Foster said yesterday.
"At this stage we're hopeful he'll be all right, but with the groin you can't be too sure so we'll take as much time as possible."
It will be a big decision. Donald could sit out the Bulls game in the hope of being ready for the final match against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on March 3. Murray Williams, who had his first taste of Super 14 rugby in the closing minutes against the Stormers, is the backup No 10.
However, with the arrival of centre Richard Kahui yesterday, they must release one player to fit into the 26 players allowed to form the touring group.
Bay of Plenty midfield back Cory Aporo travelled to South Africa in Kahui's place and may be on the plane home this week.
However, if Donald's injury does not respond well, he might be dispatched to get fully fit for the resumption of games after the Chiefs have their bye on March 9-10.
Robinson had been targeting the Bulls for his return from a calf muscle tear suffered pre-season. But the signs are not good.
"He had a very light jog today. It's taken longer than what we'd hoped, and we're certainly not in a position to risk playing him if he's not 100 per cent," Foster added.
On the positive side, No 8 Sione Lauaki trained yesterday and is expected to be in the 22 and Kahui - providing he has had no relapse on the damaged shoulder which sidelined him for the first three rounds - is likely to go straight into the starting lineup.
That leaves an interesting selection call for Foster and his assistant Warren Gatland to make at No 12.
So far, they have chosen Tane Tu'ipulotu, but might be tempted to move hard-running Niva Ta'auso in a place from centre.
It's the backs who have given Foster most of his head-scratching moments so far in their three defeats. He said he has been generally happy with the forwards, including an impressively solid scrum.
"The backline have had a hard look at themselves and how they've created a number of opportunities and not taken them," Foster said.
At key moments the ball has not reached the right hands, resulting in the squandering of promising situations.
Blowers to Bristol
Auckland and Blues loose forward Andrew Blowers is leaving to return to England.
Blowers, who missed a spot in the Blues squad but was part of their wider training group for the Super 14, is to join Bristol, where his teammates will include veteran Samoan back Brian Lima and Waikato pair David Hill and Sean Hohneck.
The 31-year-old Blowers played for Northampton and in Japan before returning for last year's Super 14 when he was drafted to the Highlanders but didn't play after suffering a pre-season injury.
Blowers, who played 11 tests, was part of the Auckland side in last year's inaugural Air New Zealand Cup.
Hearing delayed
Reds coach Eddie Jones will have to wait until later in the week to find out if he's to be punished for comments he made about the referee following their 6-3 loss to the Brumbies last weekend.
Sanzar and counsel for Jones agreed to postpone the hearing which had been set down in Brisbane for last night.
Jones was expected to face a heavy fine or suspension for his criticism of referee Matt Goddard whose handling of the scrums he described as "ludicrous", "disgraceful" and "lacking in common sense".
Jones is the first coach in the history of the Super rugby cited for such an outburst.
Grumpy Waratahs
The Waratahs have lodged an official complaint with governing body Sanzar over their treatment by the Cheetahs during their 30-26 loss in Kimberley.
Their biggest concern was a pre-match incident when parachutists landed on the field in the middle of the Waratahs' warm-ups , with young first five-eighth Kurtley Beale forced to take evasive action.
"They were landing in the middle of our warm-up, literally in the middle of our skill drills," Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie said. Other incidents which irked the Waratahs were:
* A cavalcade of 10 Harley Davidson motorcycles circling near the Waratahs' warm-up area and their doctor Sharron Flahive nearly being hit by one.
* Only receiving three cases of bottled water before the match in 37C temperatures.
* Their physio Stuart Pavley being struck from behind by the Cheetahs' mascot.
* Cheetahs reserves retrieving balls from over the touchline to return to their teammates for quick restarts.
* Cheetahs coach Rassie Erasmus' team not being released until 20 minutes before kickoff instead of the one hour stated in Sanzar regulations.
