Chiefs player ratings vs Waratahs | Super Rugby Pacific
The Chiefs were striving to win the right to play a probable Super Rugby semi-final in Christchurch next week, their mission, to get past the much-improved Waratahs team in Hamilton.
The Aussies selected a mobile forward pack to take on the Kiwi team and of course much was made about the absence of All Blacks captain Sam Cane.
The home team worked hard for a handsome lead at halftime but the Tahs came out after the break determined to blunt the physicality of the Chiefs and they succeeded.
However, they coughed up too many errors to force themselves seriously back in the game.
The Chiefs made the most of their more-limited chances in the second half for a secure 39-15 victory.
Here’re the winner’s ratings.
1. Aidan Ross – 6.5
The burly loosehead was at his best at scrum time getting the best over an underdone Johnson-Holmes. No doubt about his scrumming credentials but needs to work on the fancy stuff out in the open spaces. Off at 52.
2. Samisoni Taukei’aho – 8
With Dane Coles timing his run for All Blacks selection, Taukei’aho needed to show his wares and keep the set-piece errors low and he carved it up. At his bellicose best both sides of the ball. Can’t wait for the matchup next week, it could decide the starting hooker for the first test against Ireland! Off at 60.
3. Angus Ta’avao – 7
I love to hear Angus talk and I’d love to be in the changing room to hear his explanation of how he was gassed by Mark Nawaqanitawase in the 11th minute. The prop was very good against his old franchise giving Bell a torrid time, although to be fair to the Aussie he had Hanigan having a rest behind him during the scrums. Off at 71.
4. Brodie Retallick – 8.5
Old Brodie decided to come and play knock out rugby and it was good to watch. Got around the paddock well, almost covered the wing in the Pietsch try. In the 25th minute we saw a big Brodie smash at the perfect height on Donaldson. A nice series of defence early in second half, clipped the ankles of Harris then another angry tackle on Edmed to close the Aussies down. Was really good at lineout time as well, more confident and hungry.
5. Tupou Vaa’i – 6
He’s enigmatic this fella and I can see why some experts think he’s got the goods to play 6. Effective left foot clearing kick at 13 minutes but has to watch showbiz. Almost had a penalty turned round with a push on Hanigan in the 32nd minute, then moments later dropped an easy ball on attack. Went off the boil a little, reflecting his team’s effort and off at 57.
6. Samipeni Finau – 7
Probably a bit early for the next World Cup but he’s a contender for the problematic 6 position further down the road. Big carries and lineout takes early on, the thunderbolt of a tackle at 36 led to a turnover from Narawa. Like Vaa’i just lost the vigour a bit in the second half and will need to be there for all the 80 next week.
7. Luke Jacobson – 8
It’s become fashionable for loose forwards to run out on the fringes but I love it when Jacobson runs it up the guts, both for the Chiefs and All Blacks. Was used at lineout time in the midfield running off Tupaea and cleaning out and also providing some attention to defence. Also got the lineout maul try at 22 minutes. Nice series of play with a strong tackle on Newsome at the 56th minute, then some skilled catch and pass, all within eighth seconds. Top team tackler, will not disgrace the All Blacks this year with his versatility.
8. Pita Gus Sowakula – 7
Enjoyed being back at 8, especially with the dominant scrum. Was penalised in the 13th minute laying down at ruck time. Muscular, rattling tackle in 28th minute that gave his team the ball. At 70 minutes he powered over showing what he does best. Is he an All Black? In my opinion, no.
9. Brad Weber (c) – 8
A perky performance from the little general. Once he hit the gap in the sixth minute off the lineout there was no way he wasn’t going to score Some good service during the game, and topped the metre count for his team. Got a second try at 64 and didn’t look happy to be pulled at 69.
10. Bryn Gatland – 6
Gatland was not fully convincing and it will interesting to see what coach McMillan does with his 10-15 combo next week. One area he was strong in was defence, good tackle count, a sneaky strip at 14th minutes. Spent a lot of the first half shovelling it on to Quinn Tupaea which worked well, a couple of whoopsies though, a poor punt after getting the ball back at 49 minutes, and a dropped ball with the perfect counter attacking chance.
11. Etene Nanai-Seturo – 5.5
Love to watch this guy step, magic feet. Just didn’t happen that often this week. Off at 59.
12. Quinn Tupaea – 8
He has underlined his test credentials lately and it’ll will be a battle royale against an improved David Havili next week. Was credited with 34 metres but seemed to constantly be wading through defenders in the first 40. Special turnover at fourth minute on Holloway. He’s palpably strong, shrugging off big forwards and getting over the advantage line, but he has subtlety as well; the soft hands at 64 minutes in the build up to Weber’s second try.
13. Alex Nankivell – 7.5
Seems to be a talisman for the Chiefs team now with a heavy workload this season. Still full of energy though, got back to bundle Nawaqatawase up early, manhandled Hannigan moments later. A heady break in the 21st minute but lost contact with his outsides. Pounced on the loose ball at 34 minutes like a dog on a sausage to get his seventh try in the competition this year. Off at 67.
14. Jonah Lowe – 6
Some Super Rugby wings need to take a look at a Sevu Reece reel and learn how to inject themselves into games. Very quiet for long periods and looked jumpy early on. A good turnover in the 11th minute after Nankivell tackle. A poor clean out at 29 led to his team to be penalised. His best work came when he was posted on the left wing, especially when he set up a nice try for Weber.
15. Emoni Narawa – 5.5
Gutsy turnover at 36, and some lovely gliding running with ball in hand but perhaps doesn’t have the kicking or positioning game to play knock out footy at fullback. A sketchy punt to touch off the side of the boot and pushed to right wing where the ball didn’t come his way.
Reserves:
16. Bradley Slater – 6
On at 60. Good draw and pass at 66 on the Lowe attack on the left and as you’d expect solid in core duties.
17. Ollie Norris – 5
On at 52. Scrum is weakened when he is introduced and found it hard today to get his mojo in phase play.
18. Atu Moli – N/A
On at 71.
19. Naitoa Ah Kuoi – 5.5
On at 57 and definitely lifted the team effort.
20. Mitch Brown – 5.5
On at 69, played a great hand in Sowakula’s try, or more a shoulder on the Fijian’s butt!
21. Xavier Roe – 5.5
On at 69, always looks the part.
22. Josh Ioane – 5
On at 59 with a good opportunity to state his case for a start next week. Tepid effort.
23. Rameka Poihipi – N/A
On at 67.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 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
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!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 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.
27 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.
27 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?
11 Go to comments