Waikato Chiefs looking to restart their Super XV campaign – Rugby news
The Waikato Chiefs will host Crusaders for their round 09 encounter during the weekends. The match on paper is a miss-match as Crusaders winning five of the seven games they have played in the Super XV will take on the 11th ranked team of the
Super XV combined table.
Chiefs so far have also played seven games and have won two with ending at the losing in rest of their games. Although Chiefs performance can be termed as sloppy however they have were able to put up some fine display of the rugby in their encounters against
Melbourne Rebels, Sharks, Hurricanes and Blues.
They have closely contested their matches against the Hurricanes and Blues and earned losing bonus points as they conceded the games with close margins.
The Chiefs overpowered rebels easily; however, Chiefs biggest win so far without any doubt was their win against the Sharks. Chiefs are returning to Super XV action after enjoying a BYE during the round 08. Chiefs would be happy to play their match after
the BYE at Hamilton’s Waikato Stadium.
There earlier two victories have also came at this venue and will be hoping to put up good show against the New Zealand conference leader Crusaders. Crusaders are also placed on the second place in the Super XV but have same number of points as of the Reds
who are at the top of the combined table standings of Super Rugby.
Waikato Chiefs would take a heart from the fact that the BYE has provided them with the opportunity to freshen up and also provided their injured players the time to recover from the injuries.
This would allow the Chiefs to enter the game in positive frame of mind and with few good hard training sessions, they would definitely end up in building the team momentum before the game.
For their weekend encounter, Chiefs captain who was injured during their game against the Melbourne Rebels is all set to return. Mils Muliaina, Chiefs Captain and All Black full back have not featured for the Chiefs in their last four matches.
Chiefs would be without the services of the Stephan Donald who failed to recover from the Injury. Yet, Mils return could prove to be a catalyst to take their confidence to a level at which they can take on Crusaders.
Furthermore, All Black and Chiefs Loose forward Liam Messam has resigned with both Waikato Chiefs and New Zealand Rugby union to ensure his availability for the team during the rest of the season.
Chiefs would like take this encounter as an opportunity to restart their super rugby campaign as they have failed to deliver as per their potential. However, for that they need to really work hard in every aspect of the game and improve their on-field performance.
Off field, verbatims and the actual quality would be tested by the Crusaders, who will be looking for the win and the bonus point to secure the 1st place in the combined table.
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