We always try to cover the Chiefs here on the BoP Mafia site but every year we lose heart a few weeks in. An 11-7 defeat to the Waratahs was a reasonable scoreline considering that the scrum was being completely demolished and they couldn't buy a lineout - when they did actually manage to throw the ball in.

Anyway the team for this weekend's game at home to the Sharks.

1. Sona Taumalolo 2. Aled de Malmanche 3. James McGougan 4. Craig Clarke 5. Kevin O’Neill 6. Liam Messam (captain) 7. Tanerau Latimer 8. Sione Lauaki 9. Brendon Leonard 10. Stephen Donald 11. Sitiveni Sivivatu 12. Callum Bruce 13. Dwayne Sweeney 14. Lelia Masaga 15. Sosene Anesi

Reserves:
16. Hika Elliot 17. Ben May 18. Toby Lynn 19. Serge Lilo 20. Toby Morland 21. Mike Delany 22. Jackson Willison

Good news for Bay fans is McGougan getting a chance in the starting XV replacing the large but ineffective Ben May. Hika Elliott is also benched so almost a new front row. Bourke goes from starting number 8 to out of the 22 with the return of the erratic Lauaki. You would think his versatility would give him the nod over the pure openside Lilo on the bench.

In the backs, the killer midfield combo of Bruce and Sweeney line up together (sarcasm alert) and Anesi is back at full-back. He wasn't fit enough for the Sevens World Cup but is fit enough to start a Super 14 game. That's a worry, aside from his variable full-back performances. Delany is back on the bench. Donald needs to prove he can run a game, week in week out and collectively the backline needs to function so that Leonard's great work isn't wasted. The back row has been working over-time tackling in the past 2 weeks, Latimer in particular has been a tackling machine.

I can't see the Chiefs beating a very good Sharks team, it will be interesting to see how many turn out in Hamilton and whether they can fire up before the season is finished for them.