Rugby: Cruden is confident of getting back in form

Cruden has made 70 per cent of his 20 attempts during this campaign, with last week's nadir seeing him eventually hand over the kicking duties to Andrew Horrell. Photo / Getty Images

An encounter with the unbeaten Stormers represents an ideal time for Aaron Cruden to rediscover his radar.

Cruden endured a self-described "rubbish" performance with the boot in last weekend's loss to the Highlanders, missing three penalties as the Chiefs went down by three points.

The outing added to concerns surrounding his goal-kicking accuracy, born out of a 68 per cent success rate in the previous Super Rugby season and an uneven effort on the end-of-year tour with the All Blacks.

Cruden has made 70 per cent of his 20 attempts during this campaign, with last week's nadir seeing him eventually hand over the kicking duties to Andrew Horrell.

But, ahead of the Chiefs' visit to Newlands on Sunday morning (NZT), Cruden was confident his costly night against the Highlanders was more a blip than a sign of serious decline.

"It was pretty rubbish, to be fair," he said.

"It would have been good to be able to put a few more through the posts and, with the amount of territory and possession we had, just keep the points ticking over.

"As a kicker you have those nights every now and then but I think the main thing now is just getting back out on the training paddock and going through my processes to make sure that hopefully another night like that doesn't happen any time soon."

Avoiding one of those nights for the next couple of weeks, at least, would aid his side's cause during a "crucial" trip to the Republic.

The Stormers sit top of the Super Rugby standings and the Chiefs, two spots behind their hosts, may need their No10 to collect every point on offer.

It's a task that will be more psychological than anything, given Cruden's struggles haven't extended to the training pitch, but one that is yet to cause too much concern.

"I'm not going to get too worried about it - it's still only early stages," he said.

"There's hopefully going to be some nice kicking conditions in South Africa and, as long as I put the work in, hopefully a few more will go between the posts."

To be fair to the first five, goal-kicking never should have been the decisive factor in the loss to the Highlanders, given the number of chances the Chiefs created throughout the match.

Cruden hinted his side's deficiencies were both mental and physical, but it was the latter that would be seriously tested in the next fortnight.

"Our physicality in and around the breakdown, we were probably a little loose in that area," he said.

"Against big South Africans, who we know we're going to face over the next couple of weeks, we have to be pretty accurate in that area to make sure we can continue to regenerate ball.

"It's going to be a great test and great challenge in South Africa.

"They're two really big games but it's an opportunity for this group to get excited and hopefully come home with a couple of wins."