Cane lauds Kolisi as Chiefs go on charm offensive

Chiefs co-captain Sam Cane was non-committal on whether the recent drawn All Blacks versus British & Irish Lions series would be a boost for opponents against Kiwi teams‚ but he was complimentary of Stormers skipper Siya Kolisi.

As a result the Chiefs have had to travel to Cape Town and should they win‚ will return to New Zealand to meet either the Crusaders on Highlanders in a semi-final. None of this seemed to trouble Cane or coach Dave Rennie though.

They have been to Newlands six times in the last six years – the most they've played at any venue outside of their home field in Hamilton.

Cane‚ who was immense against the Lions‚ particularly the first Test which the All Blacks won 30-15‚ believes that Kolisi poses a challenge.

The All Black even paid the Bok flank a decent compliment by comparing him to a Kiwi back rower.

“He (Kolisi) is a South African looseforward that plays a lot more like a Kiwi‚’ Cane said.

"He’s got good footwork‚ a great skill-set‚ and is very physical too.

“I’m not sure if he has bulked up in the past few years. I first swapped a Test jersey with him four years ago. We always make an effort to chat after the game. We’ve got a good relationship.

“I don’t know about the Lions series giving opposition inspiration – your guess is as good as mine.

"It was a disappointing end to a great series [the third Test ended in a controversial 15-15 draw] so we have to try and get better.

"We always want to get better.” The Chiefs expect the Stormers to look to slow them down in all areas‚ especially the breakdown.

The Stormers were successful in that aspect in their Pool meeting at Newlands earlier this year‚ which the home team won 34-26.

“Everyone knows that our game revolves around lightning-quick ball‚” Rennie said.

“Because of that‚ teams are going to work really hard to slow our ball down. Our ball-carriers and supporting players need to do a good job to ensure we get quick ball.

"And hopefully the referee will play his part in that respect too. “That last game [against the Stormers] was a hell of a game of footy. We made a couple of errors and got punished.

"We need to look after the ball. They’ve got a big pack and a lot of firepower out the back. That’s what we expect from the African sides. Hopefully‚ we can get a bit of pill and put pressure on them.”

- TimesLIVE