Chiefs hold heads high
It was a season that promised so much, reaching some extraordinary heights, but that in the end came undone in one average display in Wellington on Saturday night.
After saving one of their least clinical performances for the match that mattered most, the Chiefs left the capital on Sunday clearly disappointed by their 25-9 Super Rugby semifinal defeat to the Hurricanes, though still able to hold their heads high after what has been a quite decent year.
It was a meek ending at Westpac Stadium for a side which had played some of the hottest rugby of the competition. Going into it the Chiefs were equal-top on the tryscoring charts with the Lions (72), but co-captain Sam Cane quipped they perhaps ‘‘used them all up’’, as, for the first time since May 30 last year, against the Highlanders in Invercargill, the Chiefs failed to cross the stripe.
It was credit to the Hurricanes for some inspired defence, but a real sore point for the Chiefs not being able to convert a plethora of chances, as the error count kept mounting and the frustrations grew heavy. Coach Dave Rennie said it reminded them a lot of the game against the Highlanders a fortnight back.
‘‘They get off the line, they force you back in, they certainly choked us a lot when we potentially had some space,’’ he said of the Hurricanes’ defence. ‘‘I think our inability to get the ball to the right person, especially early in the game, really hurt us.’’
The Chiefs had had to make the long journey to Cape Town and back ahead of this game, and it looked as though it caught up with them, such was their uncharacteristic sloppiness. This was also a team who hadn’t played at home since the Rebels game on May 21. But Rennie wasn’t using the travel as an excuse.
‘‘Oh look, it’s just the way the draw was. We took one of our
tive as we were, with what we wanted to get out of the game, and to limit their opportunities, was pleasing.’’
It was very wet i on Saturday, which made the surface at Bedford Park very muddy, and not at all conducive to the kind of open, freeflowing game the Shield holders would have been hoping to play. games to Fiji, which was great,’’ he said. ’’We had a chance to play the playoffs at home, if we beat the Highlanders, and we didn’t.
‘‘By the time we got to Thursday night, I think the guys were in a good mindset and the bodies were good. So, we’d pre- pared really well. If we’d done things a little bit better tonight we would’ve been in with a show.’’
So, while it’s an improvement on the last two years’ exits in week one qualifying finals, it’s a third successive season which has ended for the Chiefs short of a final. And, even though Rennie guided them to titles in his first two years in charge, that hurts. ‘‘Hell yeah,’’ he said. However, with a bit of time, the team will see the season for what it was.
‘‘We had 15 guys go overseas at the end of last year so we picked a lot of young kids for the future, we had a fair few injuries, so some of these young fellas had to play a hell of a lot of footy for us,’’ Rennie said. ‘‘And because of that I think we’re going to be stronger next year, they’ve got a little bit more exposure.
‘‘It’s always difficult, when you go out, you think of all the negatives and so on. But we’ll reflect, and we’ll be pretty proud of this group, our leaders have been fantastic, and I think from a club point of view we’re in good shape.’’