Chiefs’ faithful fans hold onto hopes despite end of golden run
The Chiefs’ golden run in the 2012 Super Rugby competition has been ended in Brisbane, but ironically they’ve increased their lead in the New Zealand Conference.
The Chiefs were beaten 42-27 by the defending champion Reds at Suncorp Stadium last night in front of a crowd of 36,479.
That ended a record nine-match win- ning run by the Chiefs that stretches back to the beginning of March and means South Africa’s Bulls end week 12 with a two-point overall lead on them.
But with New Zealand’s most winning team, the Crusaders, upset by the lowly ranked Rebels in Melbourne on Saturday night and the Chiefs getting a bonus point for scoring four tries last night the latter increase their NZ Conference lead to eight points.
The Chiefs now go into their second bye of the competition, which guarantees them a further four points, their biggest worries the dislocated shoulder suffered by All Blacks centre Richard Kahui and the ease with which the Reds forwards breached their fringe defence to score five tries and were able to pilfer breakdown ball.
It was the first try-scoring bonus point the Chiefs have conceded this season and four of the tries came in an 11-minute span either side of halftime with the visitors leading 22-15 at the interval.
At the Te Rapa Tavern – a bona fide Hamilton sports bar – a group of faithful Chiefs fans were hunkered around a projector screen watching the game.
Graeme Robinson, Rob Mackie and Liam Murphy were at the rowdy table.
They were heckling the ref, barking orders at the screen as though the players could hear them, adding their own commentary and cheering their boys along. ‘‘Get in there, get in there!’’
The real veterans sat at the back communicating using only eye gestures, occasionally muttering under their breath.
The Chiefs couldn’t make it 10 in a row, not that the fans blamed them.
‘Sometimes a loss is good,’’ Mr Murphy said, but when the Chiefs face the Bulls in their next match on May 25, it will be a different story.