Bulls v Chiefs, Super 14 Final
Chiefs shock coach with SWAT prank
Scrum.com
May 29, 2009
Stephen Donald of the All Blacks relaxes during the New Zealand All Blacks captain's run at Hong Kong Stadium on October 31, 2008 in Hong Kong, China
Stephen Donald was in a joking mood ahead of the Chiefs' Super 14 final © Getty Images
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The Chiefs have shown themselves to be in fine mood ahead of their first Super 14 final - engineering a complicated prank on chief executive Gary Dawson at their final press conference before they face the Bulls at a sold-out Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

An 'armed' SWAT team stormed the press conference at the Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria before Dawson was tackled to the ground by one of the officers. Dawson had just welcomed the media when the two men, wearing full combat gear and carrying plastic guns, seized control of the conference.

Those at the conference were filled with relief once one of the SWAT men was revealed to be Chiefs' fly-half Stephen Donald. The other member was believed to be centre Richard Kahui but his identification was difficult to make out as he was wearing a gas mask and his voice was distorted.

Captain Mils Muliaina and Liam Messam maintained straight faces throughout the 'siege' and were clearly in on the stunt while scrum-half Toby Morland filmed proceedings for the team to put together in a video on the week's build-up to the final. Chiefs coach Ian Foster then restored some order before apologising to the waiting media.

"I think I got a fright there to be honest. I apologise for my team," Foster joked. "Clearly the players are more relaxed than the coach. I think that's a positive. I guess it's probably a little bit of a trademark about how we like to do things.

"We enjoy how we prepare, we enjoy how we play, we enjoy each other although I'm not saying that's a classic example."

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