Chiefs turn pressure on Highlanders
World-wide interest for first game back
Chiefs coach Warren Gatland was quick to turn the pressure on the Highlanders ahead of their Super Rugby Aotearoa opening game in Dunedin on Saturday.
Knowing they were hosting the first rugby game played with a crowd attending would be a big fillip for the Highlanders while there would be extra pressure knowing the world-wide audience was likely to be much bigger than usual as starved fans looked to get a share of rugby's return, albeit in New Zealand only.
Gatland said the Chiefs had talked about the challenge of playing in front of a near-capacity house in Dunedin and especially for the Highlanders who would be looking at the chance to resurrect their season.
"They've got a fresh chance, and a fresh opportunity and that makes it challenging and tough and I've said to the boys they're going to be incredibly motivated because if you can't win at home in front of a full house your season is going to struggle.
"That makes teams dangerous and gives them a huge amount of motivation to want to perform. We know it is going to be tough and we're really up for the challenge," he said.
The opportunities provided by the jury-rigged competition in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic were many and varied. Gatland said the challenge was different from that he faced when returning to the Chiefs.
But there were many aspects to it: players were motivated to put everything into the tournament, all games were potentially trials for higher honours and the winner of the tournament would have a special place in the game's history because of its likely one-off status. Bragging rights were eternal, not just the usual 12-month honour, he said.
Gatland has provided one selection surprise in choosing Kaleb Trask to start at first five-eighths instead of former All Black Aaron Cruden.
"He [Cruden] is 100 percent fit and available, but that just gives us a great chance to start Kaleb," Gatland said.
"He's been training for the whole time, and then we have got the experience of Aaron coming off the bench.
"He's only really been back in full training at the end of last week and this week. That's pretty much that decision because we did manage him the first couple of weeks when he was with us."
It was a similar approach to the start of the Super Rugby season when Trask had started against the Blues with Cruden coming on in the second half and dominating the second half of the game with his control.
"We had the same situation with Sam Cane, who was fit and available for selection. He has had a back that has been a little bit tight for the last couple of weeks. Given we are leaving at 6.30 in the morning and bussing to Auckland and flying down to Dunedin, that's a couple of hours and then we're bussing from the airport into the city and we just thought take another week and be available for the second game.
"It's not in any way disrespecting the opposition, it's just making sure we are smart in the way we manage some of the players," he said.
Outside back Solomon Alaimalo was similar and the selection rewarded those who had taken a full part in training over the last four weeks. It was good for the squad but it was also security for later in the tournament.
"Teams that do manage their squads well and the ability to rotateā¦and don't pick up too many injuries is going to be important because we know the attrition rate is going to be particularly high.