Rebounding from a 33-43 loss to the Crusaders, the Chiefs have welcomed All Black Damian McKenzie back for their Round Four DHL Super Rugby Pacific game with Moana Pasifika in Hamilton on Friday.<\/p>\n
McKenzie has been on paternity leave and is looking forward to playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t had as much training as I would have wanted to, or as I\u2019ve had in the past, but I feel like I\u2019m ready to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a little speed bump last weekend, but the way the boys have played and held themselves in the first three weeks has been good.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy job is to come in and not try and overplay my hand, to get back in and play my rugby, and get the boys around the park.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chiefs coach Jono Gibbes said the side feels boosted by McKenzie\u2019s return in Round 4, which is also Club Rugby Round.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe experience he has also helps in the preparation. He\u2019s able to assess information the coaches are giving and put it into action pretty quickly for everyone around him. That type of influence has been invaluable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Captain Luke Jacobson wasn\u2019t considered for the game due to an adductor issue, and it was felt that, with a six-day turnaround, it was better to rest him. Halfback Xavier Roe also missed out as he has an ongoing ankle problem.<\/p>\n
McKenzie will be paired with fellow All Black Cortez Ratima, who will be up against former All Black halfback Augustine Pulu, who will make his debut for Moana Pasifika. Pulu\u2019s first Super Rugby game since 2018 was delayed due to a calf injury.<\/p>\n
Also having his first start is Canterbury centre Tevita Latu, as Tevita Ofa returns to the wing and Glen Vaihu starts at fullback.<\/p>\n
Coach Tana Umaga said, \u201cThe Chiefs always bring a great challenge, and we know we need to be accurate and come out strong from the start.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a team we\u2019re focused on trusting what we can do and going out and executing our game plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two newcomers, halfback Joel Lam and first five-eighths Tyler Pulini, will make their debuts from the bench. Former Canterbury player Lam had one game for the Crusaders in 2023, and a stint in league before returning to rugby with Manu Samoa in last year\u2019s Pacific Nations Cup.<\/p>\n
Pulini had two seasons with the Moana Pasifika Under-20s from Westlake Boys\u2019 High School.<\/p>\n
Hurricanes co-captain and All Blacks flanker Du\u2019Plessis Kirifi will have his first start of the season against the Waratahs in Sydney after recovering from a calf injury. His return will see Peter Lakai move to No8 with Devan Flanders on the blindside flank.<\/p>\n
Pasilio Tosi will also have his first start at tighthead prop with Xavier Numia getting the start on the loosehead.<\/p>\n
Coach Clark Laidlaw said, \u201cThis is going to be a good battle. We haven\u2019t played over here for a couple of years now. The Waratahs are coming off a bye week, so they\u2019ll be ready to go. We feel prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laidlaw acknowledged halfback Cam Roigard\u2019s 50th appearance for the side.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s become a massive part of our team, a key player and leader, and he\u2019s got a heap ahead of him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to putting in a performance that makes us proud for him and his occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Playing the Force in Dunedin has been an advantage for the Highlanders, who have won their last four games against them in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Against that, the Highlanders have lost their last six games against Australian sides. The Force have won back-to-back games in New Zealand only once. But they will need to contain Highlanders\u2019 captain and second five-eighths Timoci Tavatavanawai, who leads the competition with his 15 tackle breaks and 21 in three games against the Force.<\/p>\n
Once again frustrated by their inability to take their chances in last week\u2019s loss to the Reds in Brisbane, assistant coach Clarke Dermody said they are aware the Force replicate the Reds\u2019 methods in liking to hold the ball through long phases.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve had a bit of a tough start until the weekend when they played Moana Pasifika. They changed their game a bit; they started to kick more. So, we\u2019ve got to prepare for both styles again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re playing more like the Wallabies are, pretty strong around the set piece now. We\u2019ve had Crono [Mike] over there now for a couple of years chipping away behind the scenes and Tom Donnelly\u2019s with them now as well around the lineout stuff, so they are improving that area and they are hard teams to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tighthead prop Angus Ta\u2019avao returns to start along with halfback Folau Fakatava.<\/p>\n
All Blacks first five-eighths Beauden Barrett will make his return for the Blues against the Crusaders at Eden Park on Saturday from the bench.<\/p>\n
Stephen Perofeta will start at first five-eighths, while in the pack, Josh Beehre returns to starting, along with blindside flanker Torian Barnes. Injury to wing Cole Forbes has seen Codemeru Vai getting a start.<\/p>\n
Coach Vern Cotter felt positive about the side\u2019s one-win-one-loss tour of Australia, the loss occurring in injury time to the Brumbies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were disappointed not to get the result last week, but there were plenty of positives in our performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a good review and trained with purpose this week. We are clear on the areas we need to be better in.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Crusaders are always a quality side and these contests carry a bit of extra edge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Codie Taylor will return for the Crusaders, a timely return with George Bell forced out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury. Will Jordan will be rested with Taha Kemara moving to fullback as Rivez Reihana returns at first five-eighths.<\/p>\n
Coach Rob Penney said, \u201cTaha\u2019s got all the attributes you need. He\u2019s very fit and covers the ground well. He\u2019s quick so you can get into position quickly, has great aerial skills, is good on the ground and has a great kicking game too. He can do everything and we\u2019re comfortable with him back there.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a team, the side has taken a lot of confidence from Jordan\u2019s running down of Chiefs wing Leroy Carter to deny them a bonus point at the end of their game.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommitting like that to an action right at the end of the game just shows you the level of care that man has for this group and this organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Penney was aware of the frustration the Blues would have felt in their injury-time loss to the Brumbies in Canberra.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey sort of had the game under control, and the Brumbies are a good side who squeezed them and finished over the top of the Blues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll be wanting to prove a point at home at Eden Park and we know how capable they are and we\u2019ll need to be at our best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rebounding from a 33-43 loss to the Crusaders, the Chiefs have welcomed All Black Damian McKenzie back for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-518930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}