Rugby: Rising stars face final test

Toby Morland finally finds form. Photo / Getty Images

By now, Toby Morland was supposed to be getting splinters in his backside.

Plucked out of the draft to provide cover for Brendon Leonard at the start of the season, the Otago halfback was given a clear brief by Chiefs coach Ian Foster when he reported for duty with his new team.

Leonard, the former All Black and the man many still rate as the best halfback in the country, was on the way back from a long-term knee injury. He wasn't expected to return to the side until the third or fourth round of the competition. Until then, Morland would start. After that, the job would go the best player. No one was under any illusions as to who that player would be.

It sure didn't pan out like that.

Leonard's return was fast-tracked after a strong showing in the Chiefs' final pre-season game. He started the first four regular-season matches - and played well. Morland finally received his chance with a start in the fifth-round trip to Invercargill to face his former team the Highlanders. But then it was straight back to the bench.

Five weeks later he was still occupying his customary seat on the sideline in Kimberley when his lot in life changed dramatically. Leonard took a heavy blow and rose slowly, clutching his neck. He had damaged his sternoclavicular joint - the point where the collar bone meets the chest - an injury that would sideline the first-choice halfback for the rest of the Chiefs' South African tour.

Morland seized his chance, turning in a sprightly performance as the Chiefs overcame a half-time deficit to defeat the Cheetahs and post their first win on African soil in five years. Two weeks later he scored two tries against the Stormers as the Chiefs completed their tour with a vital bonus-point win in Cape Town.

Leonard had returned home early but hadn't recovered in time to face the Hurricanes in a crucial round 13 showdown, a match that would determine home advantage for the semifinals.

In the opening 20 minutes, the Hurricanes battered the Chiefs in the set piece and at the breakdown. Morland hesitated, fumbled and miscued kicks. He looked like the proverbial possum trapped in the headlights. He was having a shocker. But as the Chiefs forwards found their feet, so did Morland.

They squeezed out a vital victory, but there was a collective sigh of relief from Chiefs followers when Leonard was cleared to play in the final round-robin match against the Brumbies.

Once again, Morland looked certain to spend the business end of the season riding the pine. But again Leonard's health faltered, a hamstring tear in the final minutes of the match ending his season.

Morland was reinstated for the semifinal rematch against the Hurricanes - and this time there were no false steps. His night started with an intercept that almost led to the game's first try. In the second half, he backed up Sitiveni Sivivatu's game-deciding break and was on hand to provide the final pass to Mils Muliaina. It was an act that helped the Chiefs book a trip to their first Super 14 final. When that game kicks off in Pretoria on Sunday morning, a good chunk of their hopes will ride on the shoulders of their back-up halfback.

Morland, unsurprisingly, has struggled to take it all in. "It was all a bit surreal, really," he said of the moment it dawned on him he would be starting a Super 14 final.

He might be a touch surprised at the way his season has panned out, but his coach isn't. Recruiting a capable back-up to Leonard was near the top of Foster's list when he put together his squad late last year.

"I liked his style," Foster said. "When we went through the selection process initially we really felt having a more experienced nine as back-up was vital, particularly with Brendon having had a year away.

"The season has gone back-to-front from what we initially planned. We expected Toby to play a lot in the first half of the campaign and maybe Brendon to play a lot in the second half. The reality has been that Brendon came back fitter and stronger than we expected, but Toby has had to finish the campaign off.

"The combination of the two of them has been fantastic for us."

The way Morland rebounded after his struggles in the first match against the Hurricanes particularly pleased Foster.

"Some games chuck awkward situations at players that they don't deal with very well. But it is not about making mistakes, it's how you deal with it. And I thought he dealt with it superbly. He didn't have the best opening part of that game [the round-robin match against the Hurricanes], but he finished it very, very well. And then in the semifinal he just played for 80 minutes like he played the last 60 in the first game. He is a good player and an important part of our team."

He may have debuted against the Chiefs in 2004 and notched 23 appearances for the Highlanders since as an understudy to Jimmy Cowan, but Morland seems naturally suited to his new team. The two tries he scored against the Stormers were products of adept support play - the hallmark of the Chiefs - as was his crucial contribution to Muliaina's match-winner against the Hurricanes.

They may have reached the final with a succession of tight, controlled performances, but Morland believes the turning point in the Chiefs' campaign was the round-eight victory over the Lions, when they overcame a 19-point deficit in a rousing final 20 minutes to post a 36-29 win.

"It has just grown since then, the complete confidence within the boys. It probably started with that Lions game when we were down three tries. We had confidence in ourselves and came back and won that game without panicking."

With the Bulls having the ability to score points in a hurry when they get on a roll, the Chiefs will need that composure on Sunday morning. They will also need another big game from their unheralded halfback.