Chiefs resolve and reserves tested early
Heading into the sheds with a 14-point deficit hanging over their heads, Colin Cooper’s Chiefs side looked to be down and out.
It wasn’t the first time they had been faced with adversity this season. The Hamilton franchise have been hit with too many hurdles to count in the early stages, and this was just another they would have to find a way to get over.
The Chiefs rallied in the second spell and didn’t surrender another point to the visiting Bulls as they put up 27 points of their own to complete a spirited, gritty comeback. It’s that same grit and refusal to lie down that is keeping the Chiefs alive in 2018.
After losing 100 All Black caps worth of experience and their head coach over the off-season, the Chiefs looked certain to take a big step backwards.
Hit the hardest of any New Zealand franchise by overseas player drain, the Hamilton side lost All Blacks Aaron Cruden (Montpellier) and Tawera Kerr-Barlow (La Rochelle) along with key starters James Lowe (Leinster), Hika Elliot (Oyonnax) and Michael Leitch (Sunwolves).
New man in charge Colin Cooper quickly orchestrated a near complete backline reshuffle with plans to spearhead the attack through livewire Damian McKenzie in the No. 10 jersey, while the forward pack looked set to remain among the premium crops in the competition. Maybe the step back wouldn’t be as gaping as first thought.
Then the side were hit by the injury bug. Hard.
As of week five, Aidan Ross – a 22-year-old who made just five appearances last year – is the only remaining prop from the original 38-man squad. Utility back Tim Nanai-Williams has played his last game for the franchise after going down with a season-ending shoulder injury. Dominic Bird is battling a shoulder injury of his own, Charlie Ngatai is dealing with a bad knee, Nepo Laulala will be nursing a fractured forearm until the tail end of the season, and that’s only scratching the surface of the Chiefs’ injury list.
But for Colin Cooper’s team, it hasn’t been about who’s gone down. It’s been about who has stepped up.
Several Chiefs players – some not even contracted at the start of the year – have been left with no choice but to embrace bigger roles as they face a huge character test in the coming weeks.
Tiaan Falcon
Before the Chiefs’ week three clash against the Blues, an injury suffered by Shaun Stevenson during warm-up thrust 20-year-old Tiaan Falcon into the starting side for his first Super Rugby appearance, where he has since remained.
The young Hawkes Bay product has been forced to grow up quickly in the No. 10 jersey. A cool head thus far, Falcon has shown good ability under pressure, and proved to be handy with the boot, carving off 30 metres every time he kicks downfield. A well-placed grubber near the try line put enough pressure on the Bulls to set up the Chiefs’ first score on Friday night.
Sean Wainui
Colin Cooper has put plenty of faith in his former Taranaki charges, bringing in several players he found domestic success with as a Mitre 10 Cup champion, Ranfurly Shield holder and four-time competition semi-finalist.
Sean Wainui, unwanted by the Crusaders, has appeared in all three Chiefs fixtures and started two consecutive games on the right wing after being called in as injury cover.
The 23-year-old’s defence leaves something to be desired, but he’s been good for a line break every game, ranks fifth in the team in run metres, scored a try against the Blues and logged an 80-minute shift against the Bulls in the absence of Shaun Stevenson and Tim Nanai-Williams. He has since been rewarded with a full-time contract.
Angus Ta’avao
After the loss of All Black props Nepo Laulala, Atu Moli and Kane Hames along with Mitchell Graham and Sefo Kautai, former Waratah and Taranaki prop Ta’avao has stepped into a starting role at tighthead.
The former New Zealand U20 representative has played in every Chiefs fixture and is the only prop to play a full 80 minutes this season, after not being named in a Super Rugby squad to start the year. Yet to miss a tackle, Ta’avao has had no problem making others miss, bumping off a pair of defenders down the right edge to spark the Chiefs’ first try against the Bulls.
After being hit with so many injuries, it would have been easy for the Chiefs to just roll over, but instead they have taken the challenge head on.
Embracing a “next man up” mentality and showing an incredible amount of adaptability is keeping the Chiefs afloat as they prepare for a tough stretch over the next few weeks.
They head to Japan next week to play the Sunwolves before three consecutive New Zealand derbies against the Blues (home), Highlanders (home) and Hurricanes (away), where their standing in the competition will be put to the test.
If their early efforts are anything to go by, you can bet that they aren’t going to lie down.
CHIEFS INJURY WARD
Dominic Bird (shoulder)
Charlie Ngatai (knee)
Atu Moli (quad)
Sam McNicol (concussion)
Shaun Stevenson (knee)
Nepo Laulala (arm)
Kane Hames (illness)
Tim Nanai-Williams (shoulder)
Taleni Seu (thigh)
Mitchell Graham (leg)
Sefo Kautai (foot)
Tyler Ardron (hand)
Toni Pulu
Levi Aumua
Alex Nankivell
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
10 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
10 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
10 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments