The Chiefs have reinforced their championship credentials by overcoming a nine-point halftime deficit to beat the Hurricanes 33-17 in Wellington this afternoon.
In bright sunshine and in front of a good crowd of about 20,000 at Sky Stadium taking advantage of an extremely rare afternoon kick-off, the Chiefs, who finished with 13 players due to two late yellow cards, outscored the Hurricanes 25-0 in the second half.
The message at halftime was, according to assistant coach Roger Randle, to improve their physicality and discipline after being outplayed in the first half by a Hurricanes side who played with flair and defensive efficiency.
Wary of the attacking threats posed by the entire Chiefs backline, led by Damian McKenzie, the Hurricanes kept their shape superbly and, led by the outstanding attacking efforts of blindside flanker Devan Flanders, were a constant offensive threat themselves.
They were down early after Daniel Rona scored a superb try when chasing Emoni Narawa’s deft chip from the sideline, but hit back straight away through Flanders’ converted try, and with the Chiefs constantly leaking penalties – it was 5-0 to the Hurricanes in the first quarter – the home side were worthy of their lead.
And it got better. Halfback Cam Roigard continued his outstanding form with a try from close range and suddenly the Hurricanes were 17-8 up and looking good to stretch their lead at the top of the table over the previously undefeated Chiefs.
But with McKenzie becoming increasingly influential as the Chiefs pack lifted their game in the second half, the visitors narrowed the gap through Pita Gus Sowakula’s try and then took the lead on the hour mark thanks to McKenzie’s penalty.
Replacement halfback Cortez Ratima scored another for the visitors from a 5m scrum and a McKenzie penalty from 49m stretched the lead to 28-17.
The Hurricanes weren’t out of it, however. They camped in the Chiefs 22m area in the hope of dragging themselves within striking distance – even a losing bonus point would have been helpful – but the Chiefs defence stood strong, even without skipper Sam Cane, who left in the final eight minutes for a head injury assessment.
A yellow card for Chiefs replacement midfielder Bryn Gatland for head-on-head contact as he tackled Canes No10 Aidan Morgan gave the home side a perfect platform to attack with a lineout 5m out, but they made a mess of it and the Chiefs broke away, eventually scoring through McKenzie.
The Chiefs, on a bye last weekend, were well worth their victory – their seventh of the season – and they now top the table on points differential with the Brumbies, albeit while having played one fewer game than their Aussie rivals.
Without coach Clayton McMillan due to illness, they were well organised in the second half and far more disciplined in terms of minimising handling errors if not conceding penalties.
Chiefs replacement lock Naitoa Ah Kuoi was sent to the sinbin in the final minutes due to a cynical ruck offence as the Hurricanes tried, and failed, to get across the line.
Chiefs 33 (Daniel Rona, Pita Gus Sowakula, Cortez Ratima, Damian McKenzie tries; Damian McKenzie 2 cons, 3 pens)
Hurricanes 17 (Devan Flanders, Cam Roigard tries; Jordie Barrett 2 cons, pen)
Halftime: Hurricanes 17-8
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