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Chiefs' squad depth leading to in-house competition and strong results, coach says

February 19, 2020

David Hill said everyone has been encouraged to push their case for selections when they get chances early this season.

The sheer amount of personnel at Warren Gatland's disposal this season is one of the key factors to the Chiefs' strong start to the season, assistant coach David Hill says.

The Chiefs are unbeaten three rounds into this year's Super Rugby competition after comeback wins over the Blues and Crusaders were followed up by a dominant win in Japan against the Sunwolves last week.

But rather than looking for settled line-up early on, Gatland has used almost all of his squad, rotating players in for game time and taking others out for rest - whether they're All Blacks or not.

Hill said players have been encouraged to make the most of chances when they receive them.

"We've got real competition for places," Hill said.

"Warren is really keen for everyone to be involved and push their case for selection so it's putting us in good stead."

Of the 40 players Gatland has had at his disposal to start this season, the former Wales coach has managed to give 32 of them playing minutes in the opening three rounds while also cementing themselves at the top of the table.

Hill said while the team is happy with their winning start, there's still some important issues to address.

"We've had a couple of slow starts early on in the first two rounds so we need to get on top of that," he said.

"And we want to get just a bit more consistent in our performances as well."

The Chiefs will look to go four-from-four this weekend against the Brumbies at home before getting some rest with a bye round next week.

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