Chiefs face cost of referee's call: 'I've made some comments in the past about us being a bit unlucky and then I've been accused of being a whinger'
Anton Lienert-Brown could not conceal his frustration as the Chiefs fell to a franchise-record seventh straight defeat following their 21-17 loss to the Blues at Eden Park on Sunday afternoon.
The All Blacks and Chiefs midfielder was adamant No 8 Pita Gus Sowakula scored under a heap of bodies during a late surge for the line and made his feelings clear about Brendon Pickerill opting not to consult his officials to check a possible match-winning try.
“In big moments, we’ve got the TMO for a reason,” Lienert-Brown told Newstalk ZB’s Alex Chapman immediately after the final whistle. “We’ve been on the wrong side of a lot of calls this whole year and when it counted, when we needed it, why not go upstairs? I was a little bit frustrated. In a massive moment I think we’ve got to use the TMO.
“We are proud, we dug deep, but we didn’t get the win. That’s the frustrating thing. We need to be better in crucial moments. We had 10 minutes there when we needed to score a try and we didn’t. We’ll go away and work on that but I can’t fault the effort.
“These are like test matches and you’ve got to win big moments and we’re on the wrong side of them at the moment.”
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On reflection the Chiefs will rue other telling moments after recovering from an early 14-0 deficit such as taking a tap rather than the scrum five metres out from the Blues line with time almost up, and Aaron Cruden’s crossfield kick that fell inches short of Adam Thomson’s grasp.
Last week in their second half capitulation against the Highlanders in Hamilton the Chiefs were on the wrong side of another call when Damian McKenzie had his try ruled out after the television match official went back further than the specified two phases to find a knock on.
Warren Gatland’s desperate team sure can’t catch a break – their seven losses in succession, which dates back to their defeat to the Hurricanes in Hamilton prior to lockdown, the worst run in their history.
“The referee was very confident he’d made the right call so there’s no point in us dwelling on that we’ve got to accept those decisions at the moment,” Gatland said. “We’re disappointed but I was proud of the effort.
“I’ve made some comments in the past about us being a bit unlucky and then I’ve been accused of being a whinger so I promise you I’m not going to whinge about that, I’ve just got to take that on the chin and start thinking about the Crusaders next week.
“When you’ve been around coaching a long time it’s not the first time you’ve been in a situation where you’ve dropped a few games. It’s how you respond to that. We’re training well and preparing well. For me it’s about embracing the challenge and making sure I question myself each week about are we doing the right things.”
Gatland indicated Chiefs captain Sam Cane should recover from his knock after finishing the match but wing Solomon Alaimalo is expected to be out for an extended period after popping his shoulder in the process of scoring one of his side’s two tries.
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“His shoulder doesn’t look great. He scored the try and Caleb Clarke has come in and tackled him – I don’t think there’s anything in that but it looks like he’s popped his shoulder from that.”
Blues coach Leon MacDonald lamented his side’s ill-discipline – conceding a 15-6 penalty count to continually invite the Chiefs back into the contest – but was thankful to rebound from two defeats and remain in the title hunt.
“If you offered up four wins and two losses at the start of the year to give us an opportunity to still be alive in the competition we’d take that,” MacDonald said. “We’re happy with where we’re sitting. We’ve got two massive games ahead of us. It starts with the Highlanders in Dunedin which is going to be a massive battle for us. Tonight we’ll sit back, have a drink, and take a deep breath.
“The margins are ridiculously small. Without being unkind to the Crusaders they could easily have dropped a couple and we could’ve too. Results could be different for everyone.
“That’s why people are turning up to watch because it’s really interesting rugby.”
Comments on RugbyPass
We had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getitng to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to comments