Weber berates Chiefs for ‘horrific’ discipline

Chiefs captain Brad Weber has berated his side’s ill-discipline after their get-out-of-jail 20-19 win over the Force in Perth.

Such is the quickfire format of this Super Rugby transtasman competition, the Chiefs’ campaign on yesterday morning (NZT) looked like it might be over before it even began, with any loss in this five-week sprint virtually fatal.

But, somehow, the Chiefs remain alive following the opening round, after seeing Domingo Miotti’s after-the-siren conversion slide just wide of the right-hand upright in the heartstopping finish at HBF Park.

Bonus-point victories look like being crucial in this short, sharp format, however the Chiefs will just be thankful to have boarded the plane having banked a four-pointer, ahead of hosting the Brumbies in Hamilton on Saturday night.

‘‘Geez, we were lucky there,’’ Weber admitted on the postgame interview with host broadcaster Stan Sport.

‘‘A bit of a hangover from the [Super Rugby Aotearoa] final still there, we came crashing back down to earth tonight.

‘‘To be honest, that feels like a bit of a loss. We’ll take it though, I suppose.’’

It was never going to be a straightforward fixture for the Chiefs to negotiate, not after the emotional and physical toll of that decider defeat to the Crusaders in Christchurch, the eight-hour flight to Perth to contend with, and facing a gritty, improving Force outfit.

But the visitors made it harder on themselves than they needed to following a dominant start, thanks to some sloppy handling and option-taking, three missed shots at goal from Damian Mckenzie for a second week in a row, and a mounting penalty count.

Notwithstanding a few headscratchers from referee Damon Murphy, the Chiefs were guilty of not adapting to the Aussie whistler, and having conceded the least yellow cards of any side during the Aotearoa competition, (their one being two fewer than the next lowest), they then had three waved at them in the space of just half an hour.

All Blacks duo Anton Lienertbrown and Luke Jacobson were sin-binned within one minute of each other late in the first half, with the latter also having a penalty try attached. Then, having looked like regaining control with two tries in three minutes to be up 20-7 at the three-quarter mark, Jacobson’s second yellow, and resulting red, with 13 minutes left proved a major, albeit from a harsh-looking call for not rolling away when he seemingly wasn’t affecting play.

From there the Chiefs ended up camped at their own end (they ended with 38 per cent possession and 36 per cent territory) having to withstand the late Force surge, as the penalties mounted, with the count ending up 19-13 in the home side’s favour.

‘‘The boys dug deep, the ones that stayed on the field,’’ Weber said. ‘‘Geez, we need to sort our discipline out, that was horrific.

‘‘We wanted to play at the right end of the field and put them under pressure, but when they hold the ball for long periods like they did, it’s pretty hard to do that.

‘‘We just gave away penalties. We’d undo some good work, like we’d make some good defensive reads and get the ball back, but they were under advantage so it’s all for nothing, you know.

‘‘To be honest, the Force probably deserved that [win].’’

Sides better than the Force are sure to punish the Chiefs more ruthlessly. And one of those would be Super Rugby AU runners-up the Brumbies, who will head north to Hamilton on Thursday on the back of a 31-29 loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday night.

In scenes strikingly similar to the Chiefs’ game, Brumbies pivot Noah Lolesio missed his wideangled conversion after the hooter which would have given the men from Canberra a draw.

The Brumbies have won their last two meetings with the Chiefs, they are the overseas team the Chiefs have the worst winning percentage against, and they are only likely to get better on what is a three-game road trip across the ditch.