Rennie wary of ‘Saders tight five

Chiefs coach Dave Rennie says his side must be competitive at the set-pieces ahead of the clash with the Crusaders in Suva on Friday.

If the Chiefs are to retain any hopes of winning Super Rugby’s New Zealand Conference, they will need to come away with a positive result in this titanic clash.

The Crusaders were deserved victors over the Hurricanes winning 20-12 in Christchurch on Saturday. And it was at set-piece time,
especially in the scrums, that the ‘Saders asserted their dominance.

Rennie is aware of the Crusaders’ strength among their forwards and believes his side will need to match their power up front if
they are to come away with anything from the match.

“That’s where they destroyed the Canes and traditionally they have always been strong up front with an All Black-ladened tight five to deal to your scrum,” Rennie told NZ Newswire.

“If they can choke you there, it goes a long way to winning games so we’re going to have to front up in that area.”

Rennie has been impressed with the Crusaders’ overall form this season which has seen them win 11 on the trot.

“They have just been very clinical this year and that’s probably been the major difference with their ability to put the foot on the throat when they have teams under pressure,” he said.

“The Crusaders have won a lot of games that you thought they would have lost with five minutes to go.”