Attempting to halt a frustrating five-game losing streak doesn't get any easier for the Chiefs when they travel to Eden Park to meet the Blues in Sunday's Super Rugby Aotearoa game.
Those consecutive losses were a demonstration of how hard the competition had been, especially when before it started, the Chiefs were regarded as title contenders.
Defence coach Tabai Matson made that point when talking about the position the Chiefs were now in, especially after the disappointment of their last-minute loss to the Highlanders on Sunday.
Matson said it was clear they were running out of runway in terms of winning the competition but they still had a lot to play for. They were playing for pride this weekend against a Blues team who had taught them some lessons in their first encounter.
Their only option was to spoil the second half of the competition for opponents to regain their pride in performance.
"We're trying to improve our performance every week, we kind of did for a long period last week," he said.
Continuing to concentrate on building on the aspects of their games they were doing well was the focus for the side.
"Against all the teams in New Zealand, it is trying not to be exposed in your weaknesses because they are punishing us when we get bits wrong," he said.
When teams started losing there was always attention thrown on individuals as critics sought scapegoats.
While captain Sam Cane had been among those attracting comment, Matson said although he had rose-tinted glasses, he regarded Cane as 'an unbelievable leader'.
"We have absolute faith in him and when he plays he impacts our team dramatically.
"That's the nature of sport. When you lose for a month the world is very heavy on you but when you look at what he is going to do over the next year or two for the All Blacks and we've just got to keep bouncing out of this pretty tough week and search for a win in Auckland.
"It's going to be tough, but we can do it," he said.
The Blues' turnaround in the last 16 months was not a surprise to anyone. Their roster had always been strong and they had a hard edge up-front which was the first area the Chiefs would have to contend with on Sunday.
The team's defence continued to be an area to work on, especially with the high number of line breaks the Chiefs had conceded in their last few games.
"Those line breaks are critical because, normally, when a New Zealand team gets a line break, there is a scoreboard ticking over at the back end of it. I'm in charge of defence so that is a massive focus for us.
"We've been solid but we're at the bottom," he said.
It had been devastating to be 31-7 up and not be able to close out the game against the Highlanders, especially when playing well for long periods.
Halfback Brad Weber said the side would have no problem getting themselves up for the Blues, it was the No.1 rivalry for them.
The lesson from the weekend's loss to the Highlanders was not to move away from aspects of the game that worked for them. They had tried different things in the second half and had come unstuck.
"It's about not getting bored with things that are going well and sticking to it," he said.
There were still demands to find the balance of when to run the ball and when to kick, he said.
Lessons were also being absorbed from last season when they lost their first four games only to recover and make the playoffs.
"We've been there before so we know exactly how to get ourselves out of it, I think," he said.