Balanced game vital if Chiefs are to progress


Balanced game vital if Chiefs are to progress

Balanced game vital if Chiefs are to progress


QUICK TAP: HURRICANES READY FOR KNOCKOUT CLASH WITH CHIEFS


The balance would be essential to progressing because they hadn’t found it during the second half in Friday’s game in Hamilton.

But going into Friday’s quarter final rematch Cooper was confident the Chiefs had sent a message to the Hurricanes about the strength of their set-piece.

“Our set-piece is right up there and it’s what plays we have off those set-pieces. You saw a lot of lineout driving so is there a change-up there? If you look at our games over the past you’ll see, which I’m sure the Hurricanes will be looking at, all these different options that are going to come from a lineout drive, or a lineout off the top or a scrum, particularly scrums in the middle.

“They are very good on their strike plays too so how we’re defending – [Beauden] Barrett was hardly involved, it was all crash and bash – we’re expecting a lot of variation in their game,” he said.

“I just thought we played really well in that first half but there is some real work to do in that second half, particularly the territory game, our kick pressure. We let ourselves down in that area.

“But the way we hung together, the way we played with 14 men just showed to me – which I knew was there anyway – a lot of care about each other, care about the club and Chiefs mana coming through.”

Cooper said there had been a lot of discussion about the disparity in performance between halves happening with the side. It was difficult to pinpoint but while their territory dropped, and their own lineouts went down, their turnovers had gone up.


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