All Black stars go head to head as Chiefs battle the Huricanes
THE Chiefs confirmed they will be the team to beat this season with an impressive 28-16 win over the previously unbeaten Hurricanes on Friday thanks to a try from All Black lock Brodie Retallick.
The lead-up to this clash of titans was all about the duels at fly-half between Beauden Barrett and Aaron Cruden, and Adrie Savea and Sam Cane at openside as New Zealand prepare for the Lions series.
But rain made it difficult for Barrett and Savea to showcase their full attacking array and while they were decent, it was the Chiefs, led by the reliable pair of Cruden and Cane, who came out victors to keep their perfect record intact after three matches.
The Hurricanes had scored 24 tries and 154 points in their first two outings of the campaign but were unable to reproduce their high intensity attack against fellow Kiwi opposition.
Winger Toni Pulu’s try added to Retallick’s effort and full-back Damian McKenzie added 16 from the tee for a comfortable first-half lead.
Back-to-back yellow cards to Savea and lock Michael Fatialofa in the first half did not help their cause and second half tries from scrum-half TJ Perenara and winger Julian Savea were insufficient for a comeback win.
Julian Savea’s try came in the 79th minute, with Chiefs No.8 Michael Leitch in the sin-bin, but the visitors were denied a losing bonus point when McKenzie hit his fourth penalty in the final minutes.
Chiefs head coach Dave Rennie said: “We’re really happy. They were difficult conditions and we knew it was going to be an arm wrestle against a side that was pretty hot.
“In the end we dealt with the conditions a bit better. Our kicking was good until the end, when we weren’t that flash but we dominated big parts of the game from a territory point of view and got rewarded through that pressure with a couple of yellow cards.”
The Crusaders left it very late but a last-ditch penalty from Mitchell Hunt helped them snatch a 22-20 win over the Reds in Brisbane yesterday.
Like last week against the Highlanders, the former champions looked set to taste defeat for the first time this season trailing 20-7 at the break.
They sorted their defence out in the second half to keep the Reds scoreless but they were dealt a blow when Jordan Tofua was sin binned.
Scrum-half Bryn Hall had scored just minutes prior and his second with four minutes left on the clock brought the Kiwis back to within a point.
The home side tried to wind down the clock but centre Samu Kerevi was penalised for a ruck infringement, allowing Hunt to coolly seal the win with a kick from about 35 metres that split the posts. Another late surge saw the
Brumbies score two late tries to beat the Force 25-17. Force were leading 17-13 with 10 minutes to go when lock Ross Haylett-Petty was shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Joe Powell.
The home side took full advantage as Kyle Godwin and Robbie Abel touched down to overhaul the Force and secure their first win after two close losses. The Highlanders downed the
Blues 16-12 yesterday in an error-strewn affair at Eden Park. Malakai Fekitoa scored the only try of the game for the Highlanders while Liam Sopoaga and Marty Banks kicked the rest of the points from the tee.
The Blues, with nearly 30 turnovers conceded, remained in the game through the boot of Ihaia West and Piers Francis but a knock-on on the last play ended their hopes of a late win.
The Stormers maintained their unbeaten start to the season with 41-10 bonus-point win against the Kings.
Robbie Fleck’s men scored six tries as Dillyn Leyds, Bjorn Basson, Rynhardt Elstadt, Robert du Preez, Justin Phillips and EW Viljoen went over to remain at the top of the South Africa 1 conference.
The Cheetahs were made to work harder than expected but they overcame the spirited Sunwolves 38-31 in Bloemfontein. The Cheetahs scored tries through Torsten van Jaarsveld, Teboho Mohoje, Clinton Swart, Rayno Benjamin while the Sunwolves scores came from Shota Emi, Hayden Cripps and two from Kenki Fukuoka.
A brace from Israel Folau was not enough to save Waratahs from a 37-14 defeat to the Sharks. Discipline proved vital as
Jaguares hosted the Lions in Argentina. Four penalties by Nicolas Sanchez guided the home side to a 36-24 win.