Rugby: We must be more ruthless: Cane

The Chiefs' Super Rugby carnival moves to Pukekohe's ECOLight Stadium on Friday night when the New Zealand competition leaders take on the Western Force.

It is a long way from home for the Perth-based visitors, who may find the rural setting and 1970s look to the stadium about as foreign as it gets for them. Certainly the long, steep tunnel from the dressing rooms on to the pitch is an unusual piece of design work and often intimidating for visiting teams.

But the Chiefs aren't taking the Force lightly as they realise this game is a potential banana skin mishap waiting to happen if they don't impose themselves on the Aussies for the whole 80 minutes.

Bay of Plenty and Chiefs openside flanker Sam Cane says it is a matter of putting the "foot on the throat and keeping it there".

"We have been starting well the last couple of weeks so we will be looking to start well again obviously, but if we do get up we need to have more of a killer instinct and really finish teams off," Cane said.

The last-gasp defensive wall the Chiefs put up to beat the Melbourne Rebels last Friday night meant five more points and another invaluable win away from home. Cane says he and team mates took a lot of confidence out of that effort.

"We had the opportunity to put the foot on the throat at 24-7, but the way things happened we ended up having to defend our line like that, so to keep them out is something good to keep in the back of the mind that we can do it. It will give us confidence as a team, for sure.

"It wasn't pretty at times, but massively important to get those five points."

Cane was looking forward to playing in Pukekohe at a ground he had fond memories of as a Bay of Plenty age-group rep.

"We have got plenty of support up there and a few guys from Counties in our side who are playing particularly well, so hopefully the supporters will turn out and make it feel like home."