Chiefs honour fallen comrade

The Chiefs honoured the memory of fallen All Black Sione Lauaki by winning the inaugural Brisbane Global Rugby Tens title.

In an emotion-charged all-Kiwi final, the Chiefs claimed a 12-5 victory over the previously undefeated Crusaders yesterday at Suncorp Stadium.

Lauaki, a 17-cap Test player who made 70 Super Rugby appearances for the Waikato-based Chiefs, died early yesterday morning at the age of just 35.

He was diagnosed with kidney and heart problems in 2012.

Some of his former teammates and coaches awoke to the news in Brisbane and dedicated the rest of their tournament to him.

Captain Liam Messam, a close friend of Lauaki, originally planned to fly back to New Zealand straight after the quarter-finals but changed his mind and decided to stick around and lead the team to victory instead.

However, the win has come at a huge cost for the Chiefs, who lost halfback Brad Weber (knee) and prop Mitchell Graham (broken leg) to serious injuries.

Graham’s in particular was a horrific blow.

However in keeping with the jovial nature of the weekend, he managed to salute the crowd by dabbing while being taken from the field in a medicab.

The injuries, which came after Vaea Fifita also suffered a suspected broken leg in the Hurricanes’ semifinal defeat to the Crusaders, show why New Zealand Rugby blocked top-line All Blacks from playing in the tournament.

The tens format proved an exciting on-field product but Sunday’s final began in a more traditional way — Andrew Makalio opened the scoring for the Crusaders with a rolling maul try, giving his side a 5-0 lead.

Luke Jacobson responded for the Chiefs just before half-time, with Taleni Seu providing the sealer on the back of some sensational play from Shaun Stevenson, who received the most valuable player award for the tournament.