After blowing a 19-6 lead against the Blues, the Chiefs - now the No.2 Super Rugby seeds - are on a mission to prove they are the best and most consistent team in the competition.
Their previous top ranking ensured they received a second life and are in the semifinals regardless of their 20-19 defeat at the weekend.
They face the Brumbies at Waikato Stadium on Saturday night – but their failure to put away their rivals from up State Highway 1, the sixth seeds heading into the playoffs, will sting.
The major issue was the final five minutes after Damian McKenzie missed the penalty which would have given them a nine-point lead and some breathing space.
Suddenly, the Chiefs lost their composure and discipline, inviting the Blues to attack them time and again.
It took repeated efforts on behalf of the visitors but eventually the dam broke, with replacement lock Josh Beehre stretching out for the try near the posts converted by Beauden Barrett, and it was those final moments which came under the most scrutiny in the team’s review this week.
“We talked about how we can be better – [there was] onus on some individuals and how we can be better as a collective,” fullback Shaun Stevenson said today.
“You could say… we were probably lucky to get that second chance.
“The beauty of finishing first is that you do get a second life. We have to prove to ourselves that we were the best team in the comp consistently and… do that for 80 minutes against the Brumbies this week.”
Midfielder Quinn Tupaea, due to return from concussion and a gash above an eye suffered in the Chiefs’ win over the Highlanders in Dunedin recently, found watching the final 10 minutes “pretty stressful”.
“But what came out of the review was that we played awesome for 70 or 75 minutes and then went a little individual and tried to solve things by ourselves.
“The focus is on us and fixing that. We know we’re a good side.”
The Chiefs will face a Brumbies side on a high after their 35-28 qualifier victory over the Hurricanes in Canberra at the weekend.
Four of their five tries were scored from close range – a style suited for finals matches, especially those held on a mid-winter’s night in Hamilton.
“I thought they were clinical against the Hurricanes at the weekend,” Stevenson said. “We have to be very disciplined in our own half and not give them free entries into our 22m.”
Tupaea, hampered by injuries over the last couple of years which have limited his All Blacks’ appearances to 14, remains in the frame for Scott Robertson’s first squad of the year which will be named on June 23, but faces stiff competition.
Jordie Barrett, Rieko Ioane, David Havili, Billy Proctor and Peter Umaga-Jensen also have claims but a collarbone injury to Chiefs teammate Anton Lienert-Brown may open the door for Tupaea’s inclusion.
“It’s a congested area,” he said. “There are a lot of guys competing for four or five spots.”
For the 28-year-old Stevenson, time is running out on his career in New Zealand after he signed a contract with Japanese club Kubota Spears.
“I’ll reflect more on it when the season is finished,” he said. “Sometimes on the way to training in the morning you reflect on it and think this has been home for me for the last 10 or 11 years.
“You have to do what’s best for you and play the cards that I guess I was issued with,” the one-Test All Black said.
“I felt this was the best thing for my career… I’m happy with the decision. Hopefully I’ll have a couple more weeks here.”
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