Chiefs warming to Super 14 season
Chiefs warming to Super 14 season :chiefs:
Wednesday 14th January 2009
:hair: Chiefs forwards coach Craig Stevenson claims his team won't be underdone as they prepare for their first Super 14 pre-season match against the Blues on Saturday.
In a bid to address their slow starts to the season in recent years and make up for a lot of inexperience and new faces in the tight five, the Chiefs have changed their pre-season training emphasis this year.
For the first time the forwards did some set-piece work and all of the players some ball-skill work in the three weeks before their Christmas break. This time is normally totally the sole preserve of the fitness trainers as well as being used for team bonding.
That has carried on in the summer heat this week as the squad returned from their holidays.
The first pre-season game against the Blues in Pukekohe will be followed by a second game against the Highlanders in Rotorua a week later. There will then be a two-week break before the final pre-season game against the Hurricanes in Gisborn.
The Chiefs kick off their season on February 14 away to the defending champion Crusaders in Christchurch.
http://www.planet-rugby.com/Story/0,...791948,00.html
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Waratahs meet them at home second round, should make for a good early season challenge for both teams
