The Chiefs' big win over Wales has given them a confidence boost before the last three rounds of Super Rugby, wing James Lowe says.
With regular fullback Damian McKenzie away with the All Blacks squad, Lowe wore the No.15 jersey and scored one of the home side's six tries in an embarrassing 40-7 defeat for the tourists in Hamilton.
The Chiefs, who sit second in the New Zealand conference, were missing 20 players either injured or on international duty.
They also went into the fixture on Tuesday night with one win from their past three matches before the June international window.
Lowe, who has been in excellent form on the left wing this season, says the Chiefs can take a lot out of their performance against Wales.
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He say it showed the depth and the character in the squad.
"It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, how many minutes you've played," he said.
"When you put on the jersey, you've got a job to do. There was a lot of expectation on the boys. In adversity, you can only step back or step forwards."
Lowe said it had been some time since he played at fullback and he found his fitness tested.
"It's a lot more tiring than wing and I was hanging on in the last 10 minutes," he said.
"If you don't have the ball, it's not a lot of fun. You do a lot of unrewarded running, so you have to be pretty fit, but I was just happy to get that win. It was awesome out there."
When Super Rugby resumes in the first weekend of July, the Chiefs will face overall competition leaders the Crusaders in an historic first match in Fiji.
