RED carpet treatment and the local food enjoyed by the Gallagher Chiefs has left the team astounded as they leave their Hamilton, New Zealand homes and Waikato Stadium to have their game in Fiji.

With tonight’s Investec Super Rugby match between them and the Crusaders being the Chiefs’ home game, coach Dave Rennie said the service had been “outstanding.”

“It’s been outstanding, red carpet rolled out, a bit of reception, kava ceremony and so on, certainly we’ve been welcomed, it’s been fantastic here,” Rennie said.

And they are enjoying their locally made food.

“Food’s great, sea food sauté was the first meal I had when I was here, so our boys are pretty good eaters, they are enjoying the local food, and there’s plenty of good stuff.”

And the team are also hoping that tomorrow’s game would open up many doors to Fiji hosting Super Rugby matches in future.

“I guess if this game’s a success for everyone concerned some decisions will be made beyond that but we’re really excited about coming back here.

“We have strong links in Fiji where a lot of players have played in the past and obviously Seta being the most recent and we got a message from Asaeli Tikoirotuma in his Chiefs jersey wishing us all the best and so on.

“Certainly we’ve been treated really well, it’s like a home game for us, so yeah we would love to come back,” Rennie said.