Rookie halfbacks line up for Chiefs
It wasn’t long ago that Dave Rennie liked to say the Chiefs boasted three of the best four halfbacks in the country. This weekend, though, they may have to start a player with 18 minutes of Super Rugby experience.
That’s the situation facing the Chiefs after Tawera Kerr-Barlow emerged a casualty from Saturday night’s frustrating win over the Force, suffering a concussion that saw him leave the field at halftime.
Finlay Christie, who replaced KerrBarlow, was facing suspension after being cited for trampling during the 16-7 victory in Perth. The judicial process, complicated by the Chiefs’ flight home, was set to be completed overnight and left a question mark in a key position ahead of this weekend’s encounter with the Sunwolves.
The Chiefs’ much-vaunted half- back depth has this year been a distant memory, with Brad Weber suffering a season-ending knee injury at the Brisbane Tens and Augustine Pulu now excelling at the Blues. And if Kerr-Barlow fails to pass the requisite tests this week, Rennie will have to call on a couple of unheralded reinforcements.
Twenty-year-old Jonathan Taumateine would almost certainly be handed the No 9 jersey, having initially not been among the Chiefs’ contracted players. The Counties Manukau halfback was added to the squad when Weber went down, enjoying brief stints off the bench in the opening two rounds.
As for a reserve, the Chiefs would have to reach into their development squad, a group currently touring Hong Kong. One option would be Logan Crowley, who played for Canterbury in last season’s Mitre 10 Cup before signing with Taranaki, while Bay of Plenty’s Luke Campbell would be the other. Such depleted stocks are a long way from possessing a trio of All Blacks but the short-handed Chiefs will be comforted in the knowledge it’s unlikely to matter.
Having last year featured in the New Zealand under-20s squad, Taumateine should be more than capable of marshalling his side to victory on Saturday, with the Sunwolves’ first visit to Hamilton coming at an ideal time.
The Super Rugby cellar dwellers will be a pleasing sight for a Chiefs team looking to recover from an arduous three-game roadtrip to South Africa and Western Australia, accruing nine points while playing well only in patches. Few of those patches came against the Force on Saturday, a game in which the Chiefs failed to implement their usual expansive gameplan and, as a result, earned the ire of their coach.
“We were bloody disappointing,” Rennie said. “It was just bad decisionmaking. We tried to push passes that weren’t on and didn’t hang on to the ball for long enough. We just had a mountain of opportunities if we’d gone one or two more rucks, but we didn’t. It’s frustrating but nice to think we’re heading home.”
Rennie will also be pleased by the imminent return of prop Nepo Laulala and loose forward Mitchell Brown, but the biggest smile will be saved for Charlie Ngatai. The All Black midfielder played 40 minutes for Waikato club University on Saturday, his first rugby action for 11 months.
“It’s still probably a bit soon to throw him back in our mix next week,” Rennie said, “but we’ll keep building on that. He’ll be a massive asset for us long-term.”