Prolific winger Sitiveni Sivivatu should be available for the Chiefs' crucial three-match tour of South Africa after scans revealed damage to his shoulder was not as severe as first feared.
Sivivatu, who has scored six tries in his last two matches - one of which was a significantly truncated outing
in Brisbane - will sit out Saturday's match against the Lions in Hamilton. But a bye the following week means he should miss just the one match before the Chiefs head to Africa for what will likely be season-defining matches against the Cheetahs, Bulls and Stormers.
Chiefs coach Ian Foster said Sivivatu had suffered a brief dislocation to the front part of his shoulder when attempting to score a try that was controversially ruled out against the Reds on Saturday night. Sivivatu did score moments later but then left the field immediately.
"We were obviously pretty concerned with it," Foster said.
"There has been some rotator cuff and anterior ligament damage but it is not significant."
The injury was to the same area the winger had surgically repaired five years ago but is comparatively minor, Foster said.
"Hopefully he'll be joining us in South Africa. That is the plan. He was in very, very good form and it gives us a lot of confidence having him out there on the wing."
With Soseni Anesi (shoulder) and James Wilson (hamstring) also on the injured list and Tim Mikkelson on national sevens duty, the Chiefs' outside backs resources are at full stretch. After impressing off the bench against the Reds, Dwayne Sweeney will start in Sivivatu's place against the Lions.
Foster has shown a willingness to tweak his lineup this season but he is unlikely to make wholesale changes for a match the red hot Chiefs are expected to win comfortably.
"The key focus for us is to carry on winning. One of the good things about having the bye coming up is that we can build some rest into next week. And we actually have a lot of respect for this Lions team. They beat the Brumbies and probably played well enough to beat the Hurricanes last week. They are a pretty creative team and we know we are going to get challenged."
Foster names his side today.
