Chiefs snatch last-gasp win
Ollie Norris spared the Chiefs’ blushes, scoring a stunning 80th minute match-winning try against the Rebels in Melbourne yesterday.
With his side down by four points, the reserve prop got the ball around 10 metres out from the hosts’ line and showed a sensational mix of speed, power and poise to burst his way over and give the visitors to AAMI Park a thrilling 33-30 Super Rugby Pacific victory.
The Chiefs looked poised to be on the wrong end of a massive upset result, the Rebels of course coming off that 71-28 shellacking at the hands of the Blues at Eden Park the weekend prior, and coach Clayton McMillan must have been wondering what to make of his mix and match selection strategy for the encounter.
But in the end there were sighs of relief all round as young loosehead Norris chose no better time to dot down for a maiden fivepointer, which in all its glory pushed the Chiefs back up to fourth place on the ladder, keeping them on track to host a home quarterfinal.
Co-captain Brad Weber and Josh Ioane returned from injury and while they endured some mixed moments, Ioane came into his own later in the piece, a huge part of a visitors attack which eventually bagged five tries, and made a key run just prior to Norris’ magic.
The Rebels dominated the early stages, yet only had a 3-0 scoreline to show for it by the quarter mark, and finally with some ball down the other end the Chiefs struck twice through Luke Jacobson and Chase Tiatia, who was a late inclusion on the left wing for Etene Nanai-Seturo.
But just as it looked like the visitors were going to twist the knife on the stroke of halftime, with hulking Rebels prop Pone Fa’amausili sin binned for taking
Josh Lord off the ball following his massive shot on Naitoa Ah Kuoi, Carter Gordon saved his side’s blushes. The Rebels No10 picked off a Ioane pass and coasted 70 metres for one of those 14-point swing tries which meant the hosts were behind just 12-10 at the break.
The Chiefs couldn’t cash in on their one-man advantage, guilty of their back-field making an absolute mess of collecting a Carter Gordon high kick, and instead it was Reece Hodge who raced through to collect and surge his way over.
The fullback then banged over two penalties, and with Luke Jacobson yellow carded for high contact, the Chiefs had to come up with something special.
They most certainly did that.
The big moment
Nothing goes past Ollie Norris’ 80th minute match-winner. The young loosehead is a talent on the rise, but not usually because of plays like that.
Match rating: 10/10
An unexpectedly closely-fought contest, played in beautiful afternoon conditions, made for a superb spectacle. The Rebels never went away, constantly striking against the run of play, before the Chiefs got out of jail.
The big picture
The Chiefs jump two places to a fourth spot they occupied going into the weekend, though they now opened up a three-point lead over the Hurricanes and Waratahs, ahead of hosting the Force next Saturday. The Rebels remain ninth but can now virtually kiss their quarterfinal chances goodbye, sitting seven points behind the Highlanders.
MVP
Chiefs first five-eighth Josh Ioane takes the spoils. Returning from a rib injury, the one-test AB had a couple of dusty moments but created plenty, including for the match-winner, ending with gamehigh numbers for metres (110, from 13 carries) and defenders beaten (six), and being equal-top for clean breaks (two).