The pressure is on as the Chiefs prepare to face the Hurricanes in the 30th Super Rugby final. Before the Chiefs headed to Wellington for the match, journalist Danielle Zollickhofer talked to previous coaches Brad Meurant and Dave Rennie, current coach Jono Gibbes and Chiefs godfather Don Shergold.

The long-awaited showdown of Super Rugby’s 30th anniversary season is near, and both teams will feel the significance of it.

The Hurricanes are hunting their second Super Rugby title after their first win in 2016.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs are hoping for their third title in their fourth-straight final appearance having lost the big match in each of the past three years.

Former Waikato Rugby executive officer and “godfather” of the Chiefs, Don Shergold, has been part of the Super Rugby competition since the start and followed this 30th season with eagle eyes.

“[The Chiefs and Hurricanes] are playing test match rugby at provincial rugby [level],” Shergold told the Waikato Herald.

“It’s the two best visual teams playing in the final. It should be a cracker.”

Shergold is painfully aware of how the Chiefs fared in the past three finals.

“People have looked at the Chiefs and say the worst word they can say: choker.

“[That] we get to the finals and we just can’t go that extra stretch.

“[But] I tell you what, that semifinal [last week against the Crusaders], if they play anything like that, there’s not that many teams in the world who’d beat them.”

Shergold said not playing the final at home would be a challenge.

“But they’ve played enough football now [to know] that the ... paddock is the same size wherever you’re [going to] go and play.”

Inaugural Chiefs head coach Brad Meurant agreed.

“For a neutral, it’s gonna be a great game,” he told the Waikato Herald.

“But for somebody that’s got a vested interest in it, it’s gonna be a very nervous game.

“Home teams always want to start really well and the away team wants to get a few points on the board early, so [the nervousness] applies to both of them, but the nervous tension will be greater for the visitor.

Former Chiefs coach Brad Meurant. Photo / Chiefs Rugby Club

“[But] that [Chiefs] team is probably as good as I’ve seen [them] for a long while.

“They’ve got more than a good chance of winning.”

Meurant said the Hurricanes and the Chiefs both played “a good brand of rugby”.

“I can quite conceivably see it’s a game that’s probably gonna dish up 50 odd points and there’re only [going to] be two or three other [points] either way.

“It’ll be ... little moments in the game that will change the outcome.”

Current Chiefs head coach Jono Gibbes said he was not worried about not playing at home.

“Some good performances have been away from home for us ... Being able to take a game on the road is part of [the job],” Gibbes told the Waikato Herald.

Chiefs head coach Jono Gibbes. Photo / Photosport

“This Saturday’s [just] the next challenge ... we’re armed with experiences ... let’s just go at it.”

He also said the Chiefs’ previous finals losses were not on his or the team’s mind.

“Ultimately, you learn from the past. You don’t dwell on it.

“That’s what I’ve tried to drive a lot ... each week we’ll learn something new that will help us in the future.”

Former Chiefs coach Dave Rennie, who led the Chiefs to back-to-back wins in 2012 and 2013, said he visited the team recently.

“I was so impressed when I went in there ... the detail within their coaching and the emphasis around the culture and the quality of the men.

The Chiefs are all smiles as they celebrate their win in the Super Rugby final 2012 against the Sharks. Photo / Alan Gibson

“The current squad reminds me a lot of our 2012/13 group. They have a lot of experience.

“I reckon they got a squad that could [win] it again this year, [though] the Hurricanes have been excellent this year [too].”

Strong leadership

Both Shergold and Gibbes credited previous Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan, with being part of the 2026 Chiefs’ success.

“McMillan was a very good coach,” Shergold said.

“[He] set the foundation.

“What Jono has done [is that] everybody [in the team] is enjoying each other ... their training.

“They are having a lot of fun and that’s huge.

Samipeni Finau of the Chiefs at the round 1 Blues v Chiefs match this season. Photo / Photosport

“The team they play for [Gibbes] ... they play for their ... friends [in the team] and that makes them a lot stronger.

“They just had fun with each other in 2012 and 2013. And this has the same feeling.

“Jono ... he is a bit like Dave Rennie.

“Jono and his team have just been able to ... bring [back] the joys of the game.”

How to win a final

While Meurant wasn’t able to get the Chiefs a win in 1996, he said it was fantastic to have been part of the team’s evolution.

“You go back to [when] Dave Rennie won it, it was great. There is no speck of jealousy or envy, it’s just very good to see.

“I’ve been there [in a finals game] prior to being a Super [Rugby] coach and ... I think it’s taken a few years off my life.”

Former Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan. Photo / Andrew Warner

Meurant said the key to winning a final was not changing too much from previous games.

“It’s about trusting your systems that have got you to where you are.”

Shergold agreed.

“Believe in what we can do. Believe that we can beat them.”

Gibbes said the preparation for the grand final had begun long before the season started.

“A lot of work, by people that are no longer here, has gone into putting this group together and putting this in place.

The godfather of the Chiefs, Don Shergold. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

“You just gotta go and make sure you don’t muck it up.

“It’s very important we don’t think that the final demands something different [than other games].

“What we’ve worked on since December has allowed us to navigate the round robin ... [and] put ourselves in a position to compete in the playoffs.

“The [goal of the final] ... is ... to accumulate all those experiences and learnings and put them into practice and have your best game as the last game of the season.”

Gibbes said the support of the fans was also a key to success.

Former Chiefs coach Dave Rennie. Photo / Christine Cornege

“When the TV ... cuts to the crowd pumped up and celebrating something ... that’s a good boost for us.

“We [feel] that energy behind us.

“We’re all in this together this week.”

Rennie said winning a final was a reflection of a lot of hard work from a lot of people.

“It’s bloody tough to win a title. You need so many things to fall in place.

“I reckon our teams in ‘16 and ’17, my last two years with the Chiefs, we played excellent footie, but ... sometimes you just need a bit of luck.”

Danielle Zollickhofer is the Waikato news director and a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.