Chiefs' cowbells take on confident Crusaders in Super Rugby Pacific final

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The clash of the Chiefs and Crusaders in the Super Rugby Pacific final in Hamilton on Saturday is both a title decider and finale, an ending and farewell for leading figures in both franchises.

Head coach Scott Robertson will attempt to lead the Crusaders to a seventh straight title before he steps down to await the beginning of his tenure as coach of the New Zealand All Blacks. Robertson also won four titles with the Crusaders as a player.

The veteran All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock has been penciled in to the Crusaders’ starting lineup as he struggles with an Achilles tendon injury. Robertson has said he will give Whitelock until game-time to prove his fitness to make his 178th and final appearance for the Christchurch-based team. Whitelock will move to France after this year’s World Cup to play for Pau.

All Blacks flyhalf Richie Mo’unga also will make his last appearance for the Crusaders ahead of his post-World Cup departure for Japan.

The Chiefs also will be saying farewell to a stalwart on Saturday night. Lavishly-bearded loose-forward Pita Gus Sowakula is heading to France. He has been chosen in the Chiefs’ starting lineup ahead of new All Black Samipeni Finau as an acknowledgement of his service to the Chiefs over the last five years.

Those departures add a somber note to a final which already has many intriguing aspects. The Chiefs have lost only one match on their way to the final, though they faced tight struggles in their two playoff matches against the Queensland Reds and the Canberra-based Brumbies.

The Crusaders lost four matches during the regular season, including two against the Chiefs. But they have come into their own in the playoffs — as they so often do — posting substantial wins over the Fijian Drua and Auckland-based Blues.

The playoffs are the Crusaders’ happy place; they have been in their current situation so often, they know the routine of finals week by heart.

“It never gets old,” Robertson said. “These weeks are special and in your own way you make it special.

“It’s a one-off game. You prepare with the deepest prep and you’ve got to enjoy it. You’re walking into a pressure environment, and the Crusaders love these moments.”

For the Chiefs, it’s their first finals week since 2013 when they won the second of their two Super Rugby titles. They have the privilege of hosting the final after finishing in top spot in the regular season and they will play in a sold-out stadium, probably in wet conditions.

Chiefs fans clatter cowbells as a sign of support for their team and a reference to their region’s dairy farming heritage. The sound often is an irritant to visiting teams, something the Chiefs are happy to exploit.

“The cowbells won’t be the difference but they will certainly make a difference,” head coach Clayton McMillan said. “It’s not a pleasant experience going down to Christchurch in the middle of winter and being on the end of their parochialism.

“But I’ve also experienced what it’s like here when the cowbells are ringing and 25,000 people are vocal getting behind the team. We’re going to need them in their colors, loud and proud and making sure the opposition understands that they’re a long way away from home and it’s our backyard.”

The Crusaders once again seem to be heading into the final with a full sail, carried along strongly on the winds of form and confidence which picked up during the first two playoff rounds.

But the Chiefs have shown that they won’t be blown over at home. Far from seeing their narrow wins over the Reds and Brumbies as a sign of weakness, they see it as a perfect preparation for the final which typically will be tight. The Chiefs were the best defensive team during the regular season and they showed against the Brumbies that their defense is tough to breach.

“We think we can beat them and it certainly helps being at home,” McMillan said. “But you just have to respect the Crusaders’ legacy. They know how to turn up at this time of year.

"We know what’s coming so it should be a humdinger.”

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