Chiefs Manawa vs Matatu Super Rugby Aupiki preview: Last year's finalists meet in round three
Lost in the furore over the Hurricanes Poua haka is the fact that last year’s Super Rugby Aupiki finalists Chiefs Manawa and Matatu are due to face each other for the first time this season at FMG Stadium in Hamilton on Saturday.
Reminiscent of 2023, Manawa are favourites to prevail having won their opening matches against Poua 46-24 and the Blues 17-10. Matatu has stumbled against the Blues 17-24 and Poua 36-29. Anything less than a win for the Southerners might spell the end of their title defence.
Chiefs super starters
Manawa were 19-0 ahead in as many minutes in the final last year. Black Ferns prop Tanya Kalounivale exploded out of the blocks by scoring two tries. The Chiefs’ greatest threats then are similar to what they are now and that’s a menacing scrum and lineout drive, the ability of forwards and backs to integrate seamlessly while attacking, and dynamic wingers Ruby Tui and Mererangi Paul to finish.
This season Manawa led Poua 19-7 after 25 minutes. Last Saturday they were a dozen points ahead in as many minutes against the Blues. Manawa has won 10 of their 11 official matches in their existence, including a 39-12 win over the Blues in a pioneering exhibition fixture in 2021. Black Ferns hooker Luka Connor has scored 12 tries.
Matatu, with six Rugby World Cup-winning Black Ferns in their roster, was a study of composure in the 2023 decider. Renee Holmes, now with Manawa, reflected.
“Within the group, we’d been building belief all season and were adamant we were the team that was going to beat Manawa. We only lost to them by eight in the round-robin, scoring the last three tries. Going behind 19-0 wasn’t the ideal start but we hadn’t touched the ball. The first time we got the ball we scored a try and reset. Here we go. When we scored again that was crucial. We talked about building scoreboard pressure.”
Second-five Grace Brooker echoed similar sentiments.
“I felt like that was the calmest of all the games we played in that season…We have a really good understanding of rugby and its momentum swings.
Matatu isn’t far off in 2024. Ironically in their loss to the Blues, they blew a 12-0 lead but did rally to almost steal a share of the spoils. Against Poua, Matatu constructed a 20-phase attack to level scores in the second half. Tries from a charge down, intercept, and failure to secure a late kickoff restart were momentum swingers.
Renee Holmes’s record and that missed kick
Manawa had a chance to win the final with the last kick of the season but cruelly Tenika Willison who later earned Black Ferns selection missed a handy shot.
Few gave Matatu a chance of toppling unbeaten defending Aupiki champions Chiefs Manawa in the final, a hypothesis enhanced when the Southerns slipped to a 19-0 deficit in as many minutes. Willison reflected in the Black Ferns A to Z.
“I’ve had a few of those moments. I had a kick to stretch the World Cup Sevens final in 2022 against Australia to extra time and I missed. After the Aupiki final I did a lot of self-reflection and what it highlighted is that self-doubt still existed. I needed to ask the question, have I done the mahi to make sure it doesn’t happen again? It’s a different moment and you can’t overthink things. You have to trust the process.”
On the other side, Holmes couldn’t miss for Matatu, scoring a record 23 points. “Kicking-wise I was going to take anything 40-out,” she said.
This attitude was a stark contrast to the round-robin. Matatu was beaten 24-25 by Poua in Christchurch with Holmes criticised for not taking a handy penalty close to full-time which would have won the hosts the game.
“I felt I wasn’t the right person to take it. Physically I was exhausted. I’d scored two tries and made 19 carries in that game so I felt my legs wouldn’t have the energy to get the distance, Holmes admitted. “I went to our two backup kickers and they weren’t comfortable either, so we went for a lineout. Imagine if we had scored. When we didn’t it sucked, and it took me a couple of days to get over it because I felt I’d let the team down. I won’t make that mistake twice.”
“Kickers are a rare breed. We’re courageous but we need those bad moments to build diamonds.”
The Blues missed two kicks one from a Ruby Tui charge down and another from the ball falling off the tee against Manawa. Matatu goalkickers Rosie Kelly and Liv McGoverne are among the best in the country.
Key match ups
The Chiefs spent most of the second half against the Blues defending. A swirly wind made handling difficult. The Chiefs scrum was dominant with Fijian Bitila Tawake a revelation off the bench. Matatu has the 2022 Black Ferns Rugby World Cup-winning front row but they haven’t imposed themselves in the first two fixtures.
Unusually, the Bremner sisters oppose each other for the second time in Aupiki with Chelsea a key figure in the lineouts, kickoffs, and in tight for Manawa. Alana is the captain of Matat? and performs a similar role but will want to assert more dominance with her carry.
That’s been no issue for Matatu No.8 Kaipo Olsen-Baker. Her stats are outstanding ranking in the top five for carries (36), meters gained (184), defenders beaten (14), and tackles (29).
The Blues breakdown work against Manawa was disruptive and supplied ample chances. The Chiefs will work hard to remedy that area. Chiefs captain and openside Kennedy Simon and evergreen No.8 Victoria Edmonds are outstanding.
Brooker vs Steinmetz
The most interesting clash in the backs is former Matatu winger Grace Steinmetz marking Black Ferns second-five Grace Brooker. Brooker is an astute, sturdy, and organised player while Steinmetz has made a decent fist of her switch. She’s scored tries in both games and against the Blues was forced to make 16 tackles. She’s carried 23 times in two matches.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn 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.
11 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
4 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 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.
31 Go to comments