The Chiefs' have shown further signs of paranoia ahead of their match with the Bulls on Saturday, and are worried about 'spies' looking in on their preparations for the Super 14 Final.

The Chiefs seem convinced that the whole of the country is out to get them after complaining earlier in the week that South Africans are 'up to their old tricks' because of a hotel double booking and now are worried about the threat of unwelcome viewers to their training sessions.

The Chiefs continued their training on the pristine fields of Pretoria Boys High School on Thursday, but Coach Ian Foster was unhappy with the open surroundings and moved the training to a nearby tree-lined field which offered more privacy.

The emphasis at training was on lineout drills and dealing with the high ball, obviously facets where the Chiefs are expecting their opponents to attack them.

The Bulls main strength is with their Springbok-laden pack dominating the set-piece and their halfbacks' kicking game.

In Fourie du Preez and Morne Steyn, the Pretoria team have the best kicking No. 9 and 10's in the competition.

A large part of the Bulls' success this season has been the accuracy of their tactical kicking and Steyn's place-kicking and drop goal abilities, which came to the fore in the semifinal; the pivot slotting four of them to kick the Crusaders out if the tournament.

The danger of drop goals is acknowledged by Chiefs captain Mils Muliaina and Steyn's threat is one that cannot easily be countered according to the All Black fullback:

"How do you prevent Morné Steyn from drop kicking? That's a good question. If anyone could give me a few tips I would greatly appreciate it," joked Muliaina, when speaking to the rugbyheaven website.

"Twelve points is a lot. With that you could win or lose a match. I don't think there's any way you could stop an attempted drop kick from the halfway mark."

The Chiefs name their team on Thursday afternoon, with the only likely changes to be the welcome return of centre Richard Kahui and Dwayne Sweeeney replacing injured Sitiveni Sivivatu on the left wing.

The Bulls, meanwhile, welcome back the in-form Wynand Oliver to their midfield. This will mean that Jaco Pretorius shifts one position to outside centre and former Baby Bok Marius Delport moves to the bench.

The match is building up to be an epic clash between the sides that finished in the top two positions on the Super 14 log.

The Chiefs will do well to forget about the 'spies' and worry more about Spies, and the No.8's fellow Bulls' stars when they travel to Loftus for the 5:30 kickoff (SA time).

365

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