Chiefs captain Tom Willis has defended his decision to order Stephen Donald to kick a penalty to gain the draw against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Friday.
“Two points is better than one,” he said, speaking of the bonus point a team garners for a loss of seven popints or less.
A few weeks earlier Bulls skipper Victor Matfield neglected that line of thinking when he ignored the three points to draw and kicked for touch to go for the win.
The Bulls failed to score and lost, saying that the one extra point for a draw was worth gambling for the win.
The Chiefs are still awaiting their first win of the season, and Willis admits the side is getting anxious.
“If anyone said they were not conscious of it, they are lying,” he said.
“But this team is getting better each week and we are playing a good brand of football. We just have to get better at nailing those important plays.”
“The team is full of self belief,” he told New Zealand’s Sunday Star Times.
“We have taken four or five points away from the tour and while that’s not ideal it’s better than none.”
Meanwhile, Chiefs coach Ian Foster is frustrated at Australian referee James Leckie’s apparent refusal to blow up Cheetahs defenders slowing the ball down.
“We were struggling to get their bodies off our ruck ball so it was very hard to create any play,” Foster told the New Zealand Press Association (NZPA).
“And there were [injury] stoppages every two minutes and the rules are pretty clear about how the refs are supposed to deal with that but it didn’t seem to happen.”
But Foster is upbeat about his side despite the two losses and a draw in South Africa.
“Playing the Bulls and Cheetahs in six days is a big ask and we could have won both games.”
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