The Chiefs are set to kick off their Super Rugby Pacific season

The Chiefs are set to kick off their Super Rugby Pacific season against the Highlanders on February 19 and after last year’s slow start, which almost saw them losing sight of the play-offs just three games into the competition, coach Clayton McMillan will be hoping his charges come racing out of the blocks.  All the news, links, tickets, merchandise, viewing options and much more relating to Chiefs v Highlanders

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE
W	WARAT		7-40		CHIEF	12th Jun, 2021
W	CHIEF		36-26		REBEL	5th Jun, 2021
L	REDS		40-34		CHIEF	29th May, 2021
W	CHIEF		40-19		BRUMB	22nd May, 2021
W	FORCE		19-20		CHIEF	15th May, 2021

Although the Chiefs boast 10 All Blacks in their ranks from last year’s test season, many of those men played smaller roles in the national side’s lengthy campaign and, as such, may be expected to be ready to suit up for the opening round of the competition. There are also a number of players in the squad whose provincial campaigns were disrupted by injury or Covid, which could also factor into McMillan’s selections for the Round 1 clash.

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE
L	BLUES		23-15		HLAND	19th Jun, 2021
W	BRUMB		12-33		HLAND	11th Jun, 2021
W	HLAND		59-23		WARAT	5th Jun, 2021
W	HLAND		42-27		REBEL	29th May, 2021
W	FORCE		15-25		HLAND	21st May, 2021

Perhaps the biggest difficulty in predicting their opening line-up, however, is that there’s so much competition in the team’s ranks. In most positions, there’s little separating the various candidates who will be putting their hands up for starting jerseys. Just last week, McMillan made it clear that pre-season performance will have a big impact on early season selections which means this Friday’s match-up between the Chiefs vs Moana Pasifika will be significant.