Chiefs

After missing the trip to Cape Town for the 17-11 quarterfinal win over the Stormers with an ankle injury, Ngatai has recovered and been named at second five-eighth for the clash in Christchurch on Saturday night. He takes the place of Stephen Donald, who was impressive against the Stormers, but will instead play from the bench.

By sticking with the 23 men who combined to dust-up the Highlanders 17-0 in the wet, slippery conditions during the quarterfinal at AMI Stadium last weekend, Robertson has signaled the Crusaders believe they are capable of executing a variety of game plans during the sudden-death fixture.

Rain is forecast to fall in Canterbury over the next few days, but to clear by Saturday afternoon.

By flying into New Zealand from South Africa, as they will on Tuesday morning, then winning a playoff match, they will have ended a 12-game losing streak for teams in such situations, that stretches back almost 20 years.

Travelling teams have struggled in the playoffs full stop, winning just 23 per cent of matches, but when they have to fly across the Indian Ocean, and then across the Tasman, that figure falls to 13 per cent.

A quarter-final packed with tension remained in the balance through the final stages and was ultimately won by the visitors' superior defence and the goal-kicking boot of Damian McKenzie.

It means the Chiefs must next face the Crusaders in Christchurch, with the possibility of a return to South Africa for the final if the Lions beat the Hurricanes.

Handling errors predominated throughout the match, which didn't remotely resemble the Chiefs' 60-21 win in the equivalent match at the same venue last year.

The All Blacks great, who values the tour alongside playing at the World Cup, destroyed the Lions, scoring 33 points and crossing for two tries with a masterclass at first five-eighth to win the second test 48-18 in Wellington to secure the series.

Carter had just 18 tests to his name prior to that Lions series and admits he didn't appreciate the significance of the tour until facing questions from British media.

"I remember it started in 2004 when the All Blacks toured the northern hemisphere in the autumn series [in November and December]," Carter told ESPN.

Coach Dave Rennie says the Chiefs intend to stick to the high speed, open game they've used successfully in their Super 12 season.

But says he's well aware of the way the Lions defence strangled the attacking flair out of the Maori All Blacks in their 32-10 victory in Rotorua on Saturday.

"We like to use the ball. We try and play a high tempo, high skill game of footy and the Lions have been excellent at choking teams from doing that so we've got a few challenges ahead of us."

Tuesday's match in Hamilton is the last before the first test against the All Blacks and many pundits believe most of the side who destroyed the Maori All Blacks 32-10 at the weekend will run out at Eden Park on Saturday.

No players who started the Maori game will face the Chiefs.

Gatland, however, said that there were still test discussions to be had, with the versatile Liam Williams given the opportunity at fullback to push for inclusion in the test squad, while tour captain Sam Warburton is under pressure from Sean O'Brien for the openside flanker role.

The game was level at 7-7 with 15 minutes left on the clock before a break from Chiefs winger Shaun Stevenson set up James Lowe in the left corner to give the visitors the lead at 14-7.

RNZI reports the try was a fitting trophy for Lowe who played in his 50th Super Rugby match tonight.

Chiefs fullback Damien McKenzie then added a penalty in the final 10 minutes to push their lead to 10 points.

Then in the final three minutes of the game, the Hurricanes got down the other end of the field and scored through Wes Goosen, getting within three points of the Chiefs.

That’s how long it’s been since an Australian team won in New Zealand, as the Waratahs became the latest team felled across the Tasman, going down 44-28 to the Highlanders. 

A year to the day since the Waratahs beat the Chiefs, the last Australian victory over a Kiwi team anywhere in the world, they looked to have remedied their sluggish starts with a half-time lead, but were unravelled in the second half by recklessness as much as anything else.

Francis suffered a head knock playing against the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday morning.

Blues doctor Dr Stephen Kara confirmed that Francis had not developed any further symptoms in a range of regular testing under the protocol since including a full neurological exam and neuro-cognitive testing via SCAT scan. He further tested clear after a return to training and completed the other graduated protocol steps to play with no recurrence of any symptoms.