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One change for the Chiefs as they prepare for a quarter-final showdown with the Jaguares

Chiefs midfielder Tumua Manu. (Photo by Dianne Manson/Getty Images)

The Chiefs have opted for consistency in the selection of their team to take on the Jaguares in their quarter-final match-up.

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Coach Colin Cooper has made just one change to the 23 with Tumua Manu returning to the 13 jersey in place of Alex Nankivell.

Nankivell has been bracketed on the bench after leaving the field early in the Chiefs’ previous match with the Rebels.

Whilst Nankivell has been the go-to midfield partner for All Black Anton Lienert-Brown in recent weeks, Manu has clocked up some considerable game time in his debut Super Rugby season. In the Chiefs ranks, Manu is third only to Lienert-Brown and Canadian international Tyler Ardron in terms of minutes played this year.

The last time these two sides clashed was in Round 7 of the regular season – also in Buenos Aires. The Chiefs scored a try with only minutes remaining to steal a win from the Jaguares.

The Chiefs were without both Sam Cane and Brodie Retallick in the earlier fixture but have welcomed both players back to the fold in recent weeks.

Cooper was confident that travelling from New Zealand to Argentina won’t hamper his team’s performance.

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“We have had a good week over here, there is plenty of energy in the team especially from our leaders. We know the Jaguares are a quality side. They have performed well, and we have the utmost respect for them,” Cooper said.

As a team we need to draw on the confidence we have gained from our past couple of games. We are not strangers to quarter-finals rugby, we just need to stay focused and deliver a performance our fans and whanau are proud of,” said Cooper.

Chiefs: Solomon Alaimalo, Shaun Stevenson, Tumua Manu, Anton Lienert-Brown, Sean Wainui, Jack Debrezceni, Brad Weber, Pita Gus Sowakula, Sam Cane (c), Lachlan Boshier, Tyler Ardron, Brodie Retallick, Angus Ta’avao, Nathan Harris, Atu Moli. Reserves: Alex Nankivell, Marty McKenzie, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, Mitchell Jacobson, Jesse Parete, Nepo Laulala, Aidan Ross, Samisoni Taukei’aho,

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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