KEY POINTS:
The Chiefs have bolstered their starting line-up with three experienced campaigners for their final regular season match against the Sharks tomorrow morning.
Regular captain Jono Gibbes will start at lock in place of Toby Lynn and first choice hooker Tom Willis and All Blacks halfback Brendon Leonard are
also back in the starting line-up.
Powerhouse number eight Sione Lauaki (hamstring) and winger Sitiveni Sivivatu (ankle) have been given until the last moment to prove their fitness. Lauaki has been named to start but has been bracketed with both Faifili Lavave and Hayden Hopgood. Sivivatu has been bracketed with Viliame Waqaseduadua.
Coach Ian Foster said the decision on whether the All Blacks pair played or not would be based purely on fitness, but it's hard to imagine the high stakes riding on the contest not coming into calculations.
The Chiefs likely won't know until shortly before kick off whether their faint semifinal hopes are still alive but Foster said they were far from obsessing about the other matches that will determine their fate.
"But with or without other results going our way you've got to have your own internal motivation. We'd love to be playing for a semifinal position but, if that's not the case, we certainly have a lot of other things to play for."
One of those "other things" could be the carrot of an elusive eighth win in a season - a feat the Chiefs have not achieved before. Should they pull it of against the Sharks it will be hard to judge their campaign a failure, regardless of their semifinal fate.
Aled de Malmanche switches from hooker to loosehead in the rejigged front row, while Mils Muliaina starts at centre with Soseni Anesi coming in at fullback.
Foster has gone for experience in what could be a crunch match and he said he was confident his team could compete with a Sharks team yet to lose at home this season.
"It's not a matter of 'can we do it' - we have to do it," Foster said. "There is a growing resolve among the team to front up to this challenge. No one has beaten the Sharks here this year and with our form over the last two games we have certainly got a point to prove."
The Sharks will likely need a bonus-point victory to claim a semifinal berth but they have managed just two four-try bonus points all season. They have the third-worst attack in the competition, having scored just 224 points. Only the Force (218) and Lions (193) have scored fewer.
The Sharks' success this season has been based on a miserly defence that ranks third in the competition, behind the Crusaders and Waratahs. They might have won all five of their home matches this season but only once have they scored more than 22 points at Kings Park. That was last week when a brace of late tries saw them beat the Cheetahs 33-14.
Chasing tries could well take the Sharks out of their comfort zone and Foster was hopeful of hitting them on the counter-attack, but he stopped short of predicting a try-fest.
"No one is going to win this game just by chucking the ball around. There is going to have to be some hard work done."