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Chiefs vs Crusaders takes: Kemara comes of age, Chiefs in shock
By Ben Smith
The Crusaders produced a massive turnaround to beat title favourite Chiefs 43-33 in a thriller in Hamilton, registering their first win of the season.
A close range hat-trick to No.8 Christian Lio-Willie powered the Crusaders to the lead, with a world class performance from Will Jordan also pivotal.
The Crusaders managed to grind down the Chiefs at the breakdown and slow down their attack, ending up on top in a high-scoring affair.
Here are the takes from the Crusaders first win of the season.
Chiefs bitter shock in Hamilton
The Chiefs will be wondering what the hell just happened in Hamilton? After 10 minutes they were up 14-0 and Etene Nanai-Seturo had just scored the team try of the season from over 100 metres out. Hamilton was rocking. They were up 21-7 after 20 minutes and seemingly in cruise control. Perhaps they started too fast, with too much time left on the clock.
The Crusaders scored 34 unanswered points from the 25th minute to led by 36-21 with 20 minutes to play. First it was hometown product Noah Hotham scoring on an inside support line after a Will Jordan set-piece bust to give the Crusaders hope. Then Christian Lio-Willie levelled the scores right before half, only for another Hamilton Boys product Taha Kemara, to sink a penalty goal on half-time to take the lead 24-21.
The second half was when the Crusaders really clicked into gear, playing with more physicality and lifting to pick apart the Chiefs from set-piece plays. By the time Hotham was yellow carded in the 70th minute, the damage was done, nullifying a stronger Chiefs bench. In front of a bumper crowd at FMG Stadium the Chiefs melted down to their number one nemesis.
Crusaders resolve proved the difference
A week after the worse home loss in their history, the Crusaders looked rusty early. They fell behind 14-0 but momentum is a funny thing. They were able to get fast strikes to get back ahead on the scoreboard. A big scrum move on halfway proved the catalyst, a Will Jordan break led to a try to Hotham. Although the Crusaders weren’t perfect, ultimately they had far more accuracy and resolve in most areas in their game.
There was a desperation present that wasn’t there last week. Even in the dying stages, the Crusaders forced a maul knock-on on their line, and then David Havili stripped Emoni Narawa under the posts as he was crashing over. On the final play of the game, an incredible Will Jordan try saving tackle on Leroy Carter prevented a bonus point try.
All of those small moments of grit proved to matter in the 10-point win, and it was in typical Crusader fashion.
Taha Kemara the architect
This game was the coming of age for Crusaders first five Taha Kemara, the Hamilton Boys product returning to deliver a special comeback. The 22-year-old delivered his best Super Rugby performance piloting the Crusaders backline, with his accurate pass deliver the timing on some of the big plays on the night. A beautiful long ball put Will Jordan through for a line break in the second half, which after an offload and keeping the ball alive, led to Havili diving over in the corner.
The back breaker came from running it out of the Crusaders’ own 22, with Kemara combining with Chay Fihaki to slice the Chiefs down the blindside. It was a magical chip and regather by Fihaki, with Kemara setting up the wing and backing up inside to continue the break. While he couldn’t find a return ball to Fihaki, Lio-Willie bagged his hat-trick a phase later from only five metres out.
Off the tee Kemara was incredible, landing a bunch of wide goals that proved key in mounting a massive comeback. Every point counts when you are down 21-7.
He dared the defence all night with his running game, taking 12 carries for 76 metres which is a lot for a No.10. This showed he has found his confidence at this level.
This will be a sweet win for Kemara, who struggled initially at Super Rugby level, thrust into it too soon. Rivez Reihana led the team to the championship last year, and now Kemara has returned with more command in his game.
Josh Lord becoming Retallick 2.0
The All Black lock has always been a big man with big potential, but it feels like he is taking his game to a new level in 2026. We saw his elevated play last week when he combined with Tupou Vaa’i for a massive line break in Dunedin, using one hand to manipulate the defence and pop an offload over the top after eating up huge metres following his line break.
The same skill was on show when the Chiefs broke out from their own goal line, with Lord getting involved in the passage and finding an assist for Etene Nanai-Seturo following some sublime touches from more than one Chief.
If Lord can continue this type of form, he can become the next version of Retallick. He’s showing the type of attacking game that will make Lord a different player on the international stage.
All Black standard the difference
If you were going to pinpoint the two Crusaders who made the most difference, it would be the pair of All Blacks Lio-Willie and Will Jordan. Even though Lio-Willie’s hat-trick was all power pick and goes from rather close, he finished with a huge work rate topping the tackle count with 14 and the carry count with 16. He got through a mountain of work.
Will Jordan also made the big plays that mattered, with three line breaks and involvement in two tries. His last ditch tackle on Leroy Carter, while not meaningful in terms of the result, was an all-time try saver. Carter was looking good to score a worldie before Jordan took it away from him.
Those two deserve a special mention in the victory.
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