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Muliaina fresh for Crusaders

Wednesday 16th April 2008

Ready to go: Mils Muliaina says the Chiefs are ready to beat the Crusaders

Chiefs captain Mils Muliaina says his team is "refreshed and ready to go" for their Super 14 clash with the unbeaten Crusaders this Friday in Hamilton.

The Chiefs had won three games in a row before enjoying a bye last weekend. They will need to combine strength and confidence when they face the competition leaders.

Muliaina is not about to underestimate the Crusaders, but has said that he is confident the Chiefs can become the first team to get the better of their oppostition from Canterbury this season.

"They're a team with a lot of All Blacks and have a lot of guys that are really good upstairs when thinking about the game," Muliaina told sportal

"These guys are unbeaten and they're a quality team and we know it's a massive game for us.

"We are certainly looking at a couple of areas that we'll try and attack but you can't dwell on too much on the Crusaders because they are a good team but they're also a team that can be beaten.

"We've just got to worry about ourselves and the good things about the last three weeks."

Muliaina said the Chiefs' bye last week was pefect timing and should be to the home side's advantage.

"It certainly came at the right time for us because we've carried so many injuries throughout the year," he explained.

"It gave the guys the opportunity to get away for the week and we're going to come back refreshed and ready to go."

"We came back from the Brumbies game, had a session on the game and then got away from the rugby environment.

"It's going to be a massive game and we are going to need a good result in order to continue."

Waikato Stadium is expecting huge numbers at the Friday night fixture as New Zealand's only leg of the V8 Supercars Championship rolls into town this weekend.

"There are a lot of guys here who are excited about the V8's and the city is really starting to buzz," he said.

"I hear they have sold about 110,000 tickets to the V8's so hopefully we get a bit of that crowd coming to the game on Friday because it's certainly going to be an exciting one," said Muliaina.