Aaron Goile16:30, Apr 29 2021
Michael Bradley/Getty Images
Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan has made wholesale changes to his lineup to play the Blues.
Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan says there are “probably seven” spots up for grabs for his team’s Super Rugby Aotearoa final against the Crusaders in Christchurch next weekend. That should at least ensure some sort of intensity from his makeshift lineup for Saturday night’s dead rubber against the Blues in Auckland. The Chiefs have 11 players putting their feet up, 12 injured, and 23 others who will trot out on Eden Park, including half a dozen set for Super Rugby debuts, in a team captained by Sean Wainui, from centre.
Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa: Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan elects for mass changes for dead rubber Blues clash
29 Apr, 2021 04:30 AM
4 minutes to read
Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu and Blues wing, midfield back Rieko Ioane on the team s 29-6 loss to the Crusaders.
Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu and Blues wing, midfield back Rieko Ioane on the team s 29-6 loss to the Crusaders.
Multimedia Sport Journalist
Saturday night s regular season finale against the Blues is taking a back seat for the Chiefs as they keep one eye on the present and one on the approaching Super Rugby Aotearoa final.
Coach Clayton McMillan has brought 15 new faces into the matchday 23 that will take the field at Eden Park. First-five Bryn Gatland and number eight Pita Gus Sowakula are the only players that remain from the starting side that beat the Hurricanes a week ago.
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Damian McKenzie has played every minute of the Chiefs’ season to date but isn’t set to start against the Blues.
As much as assistant coach David Hill tried to deny it, the Chiefs look set to keep their powder very much dry for the Super Rugby Aotearoa final. With their place in the May 8 decider against the Crusaders in Christchurch locked in, the Chiefs have the luxury of a dead rubber final-round clash against the Blues in Auckland on Saturday night, which they can use in whatever way they feel will give them the best preparation for the big one.
TOP LEAGUE
Former Crusaders and Wallabies coach Robbie Deans worries about the game in the south as Japan s Top League goes from strength to strength.
All Blacks playmaker Damian McKenzie has been listed to start at first five-eighth for the Chiefs in Saturday s game of three halves against the Crusaders and the Blues in Cambridge. The Chiefs have welcomed back their All Blacks for the pre-season fixture, including national captain Sam Cane, Brad Weber, Anton Lienert-Brown and Tupou Vaa’i, and each can play up to 40 minutes at Hautapu s Memorial Park. McKenzie has been named at 10 for the second half against the Blues, an indication perhaps that new coach Clayton McMillan is thinking about returning him there after switching to fullback permanently in 2019.