Tired effort dents Chiefs bid for semifinals

By CHRIS RATTUE

The Chiefs' Super 12 ambitions will go on the line in Durban after they succumbed 21-23 to a Cats side who did little to shed their reputation as one of the worst teams in the Super 12's nine-year history.

The Cats' victory ended a Super 12 record of 13 consecutive losses, and gave Chester Williams a happy home debut as their coach. Yet there were only marginal improvements to their game, and this will be a loss that sticks in the throats of the Chiefs, who have beaten far better sides this year.

Apart from some individual performances - most particularly from captain and flanker Wikus van Heerden - the Cats' mistake rate and jumbled attacks marked them as accidents waiting to happen.

Although travel, altitude and injuries worked against the Chiefs, they were still strangely listless and could not take advantage of a side low on confidence and working under a new and relatively inexperienced coach.

Captain Jono Gibbes said: "We weren't really effective or accurate in what we did with the ball. In the first half we thought we were one or two phases away from breaking through but they turned around at the start of the second half and scored 10 quick points and from there just grew in confidence."

Although coach Ian Foster pointed to the traffic jam on the points table, the semifinals contenders would regard defeat by these Cats as an opportunity lost, even at Ellis Park. The Chiefs have lost to both of this season's cellar-dwellers, the Reds and Cats.

Foster said: "We won the last two weeks and moved from 10th to eighth, and we've lost today and moved up to fifth. The table is so tight - we've got a good chance along with a number of other teams."

Not on this form, though. The Chiefs have left themselves in almost a must-win situation on Saturday morning against the Sharks, who will be full of confidence after beating the Crusaders.

Had the Cats, under new coach Williams, showed a giant leap in form, then a loss could have been easier to take for the visitors. Maybe it showed the true impact that recruits Byron Kelleher and Tom Willis have had on this team.

Willis is out for the Super 12 season and, although Scott Linklater and John Pareanga covered well in the scrums and lineouts, Willis has a major influence around the field. Kelleher immediately shone when he entered the game in the final quarter.

Kelleher's rib problem influenced Foster to start Isaac Boss, but he had a ponderous game.

A fit and firing Kelleher will be essential in Durban, where the Chiefs will also hope that Deacon Manu, Keith Lowen and Loki Crichton will be fit for selection. Injury forced Manu off in the second half, Crichton withdrew before the game because of a leg injury, and Lowen has rib problems which kept him out yesterday.

Both sides squandered scoring chances with poor passing and handling in front of vast open spaces in the Ellis Park stands.

The Chiefs led 8-3 at halftime, their try in the spell coming when wing Lome Fa'atau did well to get to the corner after a strong maul and clean backline work.

But the lead was lost when missed tackles from Steven Bates and Crichton's deputy, Todd Miller, allowed wing Jorrie Muller to dance down the sideline on his way to the tryline.

Jaque Fourie scored the Cats' second try after a weak attempted tackle by Derek Maisey on replacement loose forward Juan Smith.

The Chiefs even had the advantage of often facing a wobbly Cats lineout with much of the blame belonging to starting hooker Hanyani Shimange, who was replaced in the 49th minute by Andre van Niekerk.

A few minutes after Shimange's departure, Linklater was yellow-carded by George Ayoub for a professional foul. Cats prop CJ van der Linde was also binned in the final minutes for a forearm to Sione Lauaki's head in a ruck.

Lauaki gave the Chiefs a remote chance of an unlikely victory when he took a quick penalty and scored against sleepy defence in the final two minutes. The Chiefs secured the kickoff via a penalty, but the final attack broke down in a suitably lame end to the match.