Injury remains a concern for the chiefs of DHL Super Rugby Pacific, and after their 45-12 win over Moana Pacifica on Saturday, it is halfback Brad Webber who is under the microscope.
Although it was confined to a substitute role, it did not prevent Webber from suffering a stab injury to his shoulder. This affected the nerves in his neck, and coach Clayton McMillan expected him to join the All Blacks Brody Retlick, Anton Lienert-Brown and Josh Ioane on the long injury list.
Another who could miss the Australian leg is wing Shaun Stevenson, who left the field with a knee injury.
McMillan said the focus on the breakdown was because it had been the Chiefs’ Achilles heel for the past two or three weeks, and that every week he faced something different.
“It’s because of us being ruthless and skilled in that area around us and understanding that it’s a trend in the sport now that teams are competing in that space,” he said.
The move away from lineout Maul’s over-use close to the goal-line was down to the fact that Moana Pacifica defended it so well. But that was also because the Chief didn’t want to be a one-trick pony.
“You have to have some more equipment up your sleeve and we are trying to develop our overall game,” he said.
was positive, especially with the number of young players, and he was happy to take the ugly win, receive bonus points and reset for the Australian leg of the series.
He said that the Crusaders and Blues have demonstrated in their game that they are a few steps above other New Zealand teams at the moment.
“We think we can get there. We’ve shown we can mix it up with those guys, but we’ve lost a little bit of fluency in our game. Part of it has been around Covid. Part of it is injuries. been around, and struggling to get that same team out of the park.”
“We have a few more gears left, so going to Australia gives us a chance to reset the dial,” he said.
Their goal would be to score two victories on the road in Australia before returning to host the Brumbies.
He said, “If you underestimate the Australians you do so at your own risk. They play a different style of rugby, the substitutes are also a little different, so it’s a good way to adapt quickly and to adapt to each and every opposition you face. It’s about being respected,” he said.
Moana Pasifika coach Aaron Mauger can breathe a sigh of relief at the end of New Zealand’s most brutal campaign, forced to play two weeks of catch-up games as a result of losing games to Covid-19 early in the competition.
“We’re through it now, we have people with more experience at that level, and we’re going to be better for it,” he said.
The side were eager to absorb the lessons of their 12-53 loss to the Hurricanes in the middle of the week, which they trained harder than they were on Thursday, but they said the players had come out, and no complaints. Was.
