Cooper happy as Chiefs show their ruthless side
The Chiefs might have had to work hard for their first two Super Rugby victories of the season, but their latest was more of a walk in the park.
It was always expected they would be much too strong for the Sunwolves in Tokyo, and predictions were certainly not wrong, as they cantered to a 61-10 bonus-point victory in sunny conditions at Prince Chichibu Stadium.
The Sunwolves may have shown themselves to be a more competitive unit this season, and would have taken confidence from only losing to the Lions by two points in Johannesburg last weekend, however it was back to earth for them here, as the Chiefs roared out to a 28-0 lead by the quarter-mark and didn’t look back.
Damian McKenzie – back into the No 10 jersey – and winger Solomon Alaimalo both bagged doubles, as the visitors ran in nine tries and showed themselves to be just far too fast and skillful for the home side.
The Chiefs had won the hard way in their two previous outings, fighting back from behind against the Blues and Bulls, and coach Colin Cooper was pleased they were this time able to make all the running.
‘‘We really needed to come over here and play well,’’ he said from the Japanese capital. ‘‘So our preparation was everything. We couldn’t really come over here disrespecting the Sunwolves – they’re a good team, they pushed the Lions really hard in South Africa, so it was probably good for us to see that.
‘‘The leaders drove the week and we worked really well together to produce a game like that.
‘‘Some of the turnover tries, they were outstanding, and we were pretty ruthless when we got in their 22, and a couple of lineout drives were finished off. So there were a number of things [I liked], some individuals that I was really pleased about that had been working really well during the week.’’
The Sunwolves did manage to keep the Chiefs scoreless in the second quarter of the match, then managed to score either side of halftime, to at least keep them honest at 28-10.
But even with Cooper able to pull precious cattle from the field in captain Sam Cane, Brodie Retallick and Anton Lienert-Brown, the visitors put the foot back down.
‘‘We let them come back and they scored two quick tries and all of a sudden it wasn’t a real gap,’’ Cooper said. ‘‘But that closed quickly. I think that was good, I think the guys rallied together, led really well by Damian again.’’
McKenzie, who actually sent the opening kickoff out on the full, was indeed conspicuous from then on in for all the right reasons, and with eight from nine off the tee he ended with a haul of 26 points.
‘‘He ran the cutter, people run off him and he’s got an x-factor that can take space,’’ Cooper said. ‘‘I thought his kicking game, getting us out of our 22 was good, and he’s always threatening with the ball.’’
Liam Messam was a late inclusion on the bench with Michael Allardice not overcoming a groin injury suffered on Thursday, and the veteran played the last quarter and took over the captaincy too. Tyler Ardron – in the more unfamiliar spot of lock – and halfback Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi were everywhere in impressive first starts for the team.
Chiefs 61 (Solomon Alaimalo 2, Damian McKenzie 2, Tyler Ardron, Brodie Retallick, Nathan Harris, Liam Polwart, Sean Wainui tries; Damian McKenzie 8 con) Sunwolves 10 (Semisi Masirewa, Hosea Saumaki tries) HT: 28-5.
Some of the turnover tries, they were outstanding. Colin Cooper