Amakhosi brushed off whatever tiredness they may have had and headed for the training ground later on Thursday afternoon after arriving at their base in the Cape Vine Yards. Chiefs were originally scheduled to arrival early on Thursday in Cape Town saw their flight out of Johannesburg International Airport delayed.

As a result, Amakhosi had to change their programme somewhat as they delayed their training session about two hours. Chiefs began their Thursday afternoon training session amidst dense storm clouds in heavy over cast conditions, on cue the clouds continued to gather and the skies got darker as Amakhosi’s training session continued.

As the clouds were being orchestrated by a higher power they seemed to look upon Chiefs with an eye of mercy, taking into account their tiring journey earlier in the day and were allowed to finish their training session. As the final set of players boarded the team bus to head back to Chiefs luxurious base in the Cape Vineyards, the heavens opened up and the rain continued falling through the early to later part of the evening.

For Chiefs coach, Ernst Middendorp it was imperative for Amakhosi to get through a training session for the day, as not having one would have slowed down the progress the team have been making towards full fitness.

Having played two friendly games on Tuesday and Wednesday the coach was happy that the hard work was not undone by having to miss a training session as he said “it would have been a major set back in terms of our overall preparedness if we had to miss out on a session on Thursday.

Every training session has a different benefit for the players and I am happy that we could have a full session on Thursday, because it keeps our preparations on track”.

While the Chiefs players will use the evening to get some much needed rest they will be back out on the training ground early on Friday morning, for what the coach described as a tough mental and physical session.

Chiefs will take time out after their Friday morning training session and will conduct a coaching clinic for a hundred and twenty kids from around the Western Cape.

The coaching clinic which will see the Chiefs players divided into various groups along with the kids, and is expected to last about an hour and a half.