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Having given them a C-minus for their efforts against the Bulls, Chiefs rugby coach Ian Foster is putting the heat on the Mike Delany-Stephen Donald five-eighths combination to revive their misfiring attack.
Last year's beaten finalists, currently seventh, are in danger of slipping from playoffs contention if they lose to the fourth-placed Stormers in Hamilton on Friday, the visitors coming off an impressive victory against the Blues.
Foster said both he and the All Blacks coaches were keen for last year's European tourists, Delany and Donald to eventually link up in the Super 14, but they'd returned mixed results to date.
"I gave it a pass mark against the Highlanders and gave it probably a C-minus against the Bulls in terms of the organisation of it," said Foster today.
"We're clearly putting a bit of pressure on the roles in this game, we need it to go better.
"We've got two good people there and they're working hard on getting that combination working. There's going to be some reward for us if they can, but there's a few teething problems."
The Chiefs suffered their fourth defeat of the season in a 19-33 loss to the table-topping Bulls in Hamilton.
With All Blacks kingpins Mils Muliaina and Sitiveni Sivivatu still on the injured list, Foster retained the same backline and made just one change to the pack, with 21-year-old prop Toby Smith earning a first Super 14 start in place of Sona Taumalolo (shoulder).
Smith, highly rated in the Chiefs set-up, was summoned to the starting lineup after three matches from the bench, with the experienced Nathan White returning to the reserves.
Foster was happy with his forwards' effort against the powerful Bulls side, but execution on attack was their must-improve this week.
"We've been operating on less possession and any mistakes we do make tend to make the problem a little bit bigger. Line break-wise we're fine, we've got our normal number and generally we're pretty high in that area.
"It shows we are doing a lot of good things but we've been probably over-anxious to finish things off ahead of time."
Foster pinpointed the second-receiver role from phase play as a key area for attention, with damaging ball runners Sione Lauaki and Liam Messam having become isolated at times last week.
Centre Richard Kahui, bidding to regain his All Blacks spot after an injury-ravaged 2009, admitted he was one of the backs who needed improvement.
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"There's a few individuals who probably aren't playing their best, me included. With that you tend to put a bit of pressure on yourself," Kahui said.
"We're getting some really good ball, we just need to relax and be patient. That's letting us down at the moment, we're trying to push those 50-50 passes which is forcing those handling errors."
The Stormers showed New Zealand soil held no fears for them last week as they moved to within one competition point of the second-placed Crusaders.
Foster observed they'd lifted their game a notch since making the long trip from South Africa, suggesting an entertaining spectacle this week.
"Against the Blues they went up a cog in terms of their attacking structure and options. They played a little bit wider and the likes of (Jaque) Fourie, (Bryan) Habana and (Gio) Aplon, they like to use their footwork and sniff opportunities a bit wider.
"It's going to be a bit more across the park in terms of the threats this week."
Last year's beaten finalists, currently seventh, are in danger of slipping from playoffs contention if they lose to the fourth-placed Stormers in Hamilton on Friday, the visitors coming off an impressive victory against the Blues.
Foster said both he and the All Blacks coaches were keen for last year's European tourists, Delany and Donald to eventually link up in the Super 14, but they'd returned mixed results to date.
"I gave it a pass mark against the Highlanders and gave it probably a C-minus against the Bulls in terms of the organisation of it," said Foster today.
"We're clearly putting a bit of pressure on the roles in this game, we need it to go better.
"We've got two good people there and they're working hard on getting that combination working. There's going to be some reward for us if they can, but there's a few teething problems."
The Chiefs suffered their fourth defeat of the season in a 19-33 loss to the table-topping Bulls in Hamilton.
With All Blacks kingpins Mils Muliaina and Sitiveni Sivivatu still on the injured list, Foster retained the same backline and made just one change to the pack, with 21-year-old prop Toby Smith earning a first Super 14 start in place of Sona Taumalolo (shoulder).
Smith, highly rated in the Chiefs set-up, was summoned to the starting lineup after three matches from the bench, with the experienced Nathan White returning to the reserves.
Foster was happy with his forwards' effort against the powerful Bulls side, but execution on attack was their must-improve this week.
"We've been operating on less possession and any mistakes we do make tend to make the problem a little bit bigger. Line break-wise we're fine, we've got our normal number and generally we're pretty high in that area.
"It shows we are doing a lot of good things but we've been probably over-anxious to finish things off ahead of time."
Foster pinpointed the second-receiver role from phase play as a key area for attention, with damaging ball runners Sione Lauaki and Liam Messam having become isolated at times last week.
Centre Richard Kahui, bidding to regain his All Blacks spot after an injury-ravaged 2009, admitted he was one of the backs who needed improvement.
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"There's a few individuals who probably aren't playing their best, me included. With that you tend to put a bit of pressure on yourself," Kahui said.
"We're getting some really good ball, we just need to relax and be patient. That's letting us down at the moment, we're trying to push those 50-50 passes which is forcing those handling errors."
The Stormers showed New Zealand soil held no fears for them last week as they moved to within one competition point of the second-placed Crusaders.
Foster observed they'd lifted their game a notch since making the long trip from South Africa, suggesting an entertaining spectacle this week.
"Against the Blues they went up a cog in terms of their attacking structure and options. They played a little bit wider and the likes of (Jaque) Fourie, (Bryan) Habana and (Gio) Aplon, they like to use their footwork and sniff opportunities a bit wider.
"It's going to be a bit more across the park in terms of the threats this week."
Looks like it is being looked at a passage deal. If Donald and Delany dont gel then I expect Donald will be put back at 10. Dropping Donald seems like an impossible option for Foster. Delany woukd be pulling his hair out in that case, but only has himslef to blame for not moving to the Blues and trusting Foster with his future.
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Edited by KiwiPie, 15 April 2010 - 12:27 PM.
Prefix (lazy toad!)
