Chiefs left to rue missed opportunity

Clayton McMillan talked about pain as he tried to make sense of the Chiefs’ 24-13 loss to the Crusaders in the Super Rugby Aotearoa final on Saturday night.

It was apt because the defeat at Orangetheory Stadium must have stung for multiple reasons.

When the Crusaders were reduced to 13 men in the second half because Codie Taylor and Sevu Reece had been yellow carded, the Chiefs had a wonderful opportunity to make the defending champions squeal.

Instead they could only add three points in the final 40 minutes, sweeping aside the curtain for the Crusaders gun down the home straight in the final quarter.

There were other crucial misses for the Chiefs players to consider as they swilled their beers after the big showdown; fullback Damian McKenzie couldn’t convert three kickable penalties, and Jonah Lowe went within a cat’s whisker of scoring a try in the first half.

As Chiefs coach McMillan spoke to media post-match he reflected on his team’s swift transition from losers to title contenders within the space of a couple of months; when his team had last visited Christchurch in mid-March they had suffered a record-equalling 11th straight loss and anyone brave enough to say they would make the final would have been considered a twit.

‘‘Last time I stood in this position, it didn’t look too pretty,’’ McMillan said. ‘‘If I was a betting man, I don’t think many of you would have put money on us to be here in another six or seven weeks time.

‘‘But we did it. And we have raised a few eyebrows and people are starting to take notice, now.’’