There’s no danger Chiefs coach Dave Rennie is about to underestimate the under-performing NSW Waratahs ahead of Saturday’s round-six Super Rugby match in Hamilton.
Coming off the bye, refreshed and rejuvenated, the Chiefs top the New Zealand conference table with one loss from four starts.
The week off has allowed Rennie the luxury of a few changes, the most significant coming with the naming of Richard Kahui at centre in his 50th game for the Chiefs, where he pairs with fellow All Black Sonny Bill Williams.
Asaeli Tikoirotuma is back on the right wing after missing the last-up 29-22 win over the Brumbies at Mt Maunganui while on bereavement leave.
Hooker Hika Elliott has recovered from an eye injury and comes in at hooker for Mahonri Schwalger, while Kane Thompson will wear the No.8 jersey in a reshuffled loose trio.
The Waratahs have had a patchy start to the season, with losses to the Reds, Highlanders and the Force broken up by wins over the Rebels and the Sharks.
But Rennie says the Waratahs’ results haven’t really shown a true reflection of their ability.
“They were beaten by the Reds in the last minute of the opening game. They were beaten late in the piece by the Force,” he told NZ Newswire.
“They could easily be in a similar position to us. It’s such a tight competition and you’ve got to be at your best every week.
“I imagine they’re pretty motivated.”
The Williams-Kahui midfield pairing offers a daunting combination, especially in tandem with rookie halfback Tawera Kerr-Barlow and All Blacks five-eighth Aaron Cruden, and Rennie expects the Waratahs defensive discipline will be tested.
But he says the winning of the match will, as always, happen up front.
“We’ve had a lot of time to study them, so we’ve got a couple of areas we think are going to be key for us. But again, it comes down to doing the job from set piece and then things flowing from there.
“They’ve certainly got gamebreakers all over the park, and we need to be aware of that.”
The Waratahs will be boosted by last Saturday’s 34-30 win over the Sharks, and coach Michael Foley has retained the same starting line-up for this weekend.
But the Chiefs still have plenty of room for improvement, and Rennie says they’ll need to start showing that on Saturday.
“We know we can play a lot better – we’ve done really well in patches and we’ve certainly defended well.
“But I think we can grow our game a bit more. We haven’t put everything out on the park yet.”
