‘Flattered by the scoreboard’: Chiefs coach reacts to 20-point win

Coach Jono Gibbes believes the scoreboard flattered the Chiefs, as they claimed a 42-22 Super Round win over the Fijian Drua on Sunday. Debutant Isaac Hutchinson was among the standouts in the fixture at One New Zealand Stadium.

After knocking off the high-flying Hurricanes 22-17 in an extra-time thriller eight days earlier, the Chiefs looked to maintain their strong position in the race for a top-of-the-table finish deep in the Super Rugby Pacific round-robin.

But the Drua were actually the first team to strike in this round 11 showdown, with Mesake Doge touching down after just a couple of minutes. Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula added the extras, but the Drua weren’t in control for long.

Brodie McAlister and Quinn Tupaea scored one try each in a three-minute span as the Chiefs took the lead for the first time. Jared Proffit and Cortez Ratima added to the team’s advantage later on, with the Chiefs taking an 18-point lead into the break.

The Chiefs outscored the Drua by just two points during the second term, with both sides scoring two tries during an entertaining half. But the Chiefs did enough to win this one comfortably and now sit equal on competition points with ladder-leaders the Hurricanes.

“It was a tough battle. We’re a bit flattered by the scoreboard. It didn’t fully reflect how tough each of those points were that we had to get,” Gibbes told reporters.

“We showed glimpses in there of real control, real accuracy, good intent, and then moments where we kind of just drifted out a little bit, a little bit untidy with the ball on the ground.

“Their ability to break out from those moments and wreak a bit of havoc and the energy it takes to try and reorganise on D after those types of things, we certainly felt that in the legs in the last 10 minutes.”

Hutchinson had seemingly scored a try on debut inside the first few minutes of the second half, after Ilaisa Droasese made an error out the back. The Drua fullback returned a kick but slipped inside the in-goal, dropping the ball too, which fell to the ground at the debutant’s feet.

The 22-year-old celebrated and ran back to half way, before replays showed Droasese managed to ground the ball first. Instead of celebrating a try, the Chiefs instead set up for an attacking scrum five metres out from the line, which led to points through Daniel Sinkinson.

“How we got to that point, there was a few clues in that,” Gibbes explained.

“I also think even with those 35, the Drua were always knocking on the door, always threatening.

“We were able to exploit a few areas from there and that was really positive and pleasing but I don’t think we thought about kicking on such, but maybe a bit of accuracy on the ground at times and that killed off that momentum of ours and fuelled theirs.”

Hutchison produced some game-defining moments on both sides of the ball, including a try-saving tackle on Frank Lomani during the first half. With the match in the balance at 14-10, the former New Zealand U20s flyer kept the Chiefs in the lead.

The outside back showed impressive acceleration off the mark to cut down Frank Lomani just shy of the try line, forcing the Drau scrum-half’s foot into touch.

“Obviously a special moment for him. To be able to do it down here, where he’s played most of his football. I think what we saw tonight, his energy at the back was what got him recruited a long time ago,” he said.

“A little bit of chaos out the back and him tidying up and being decisive with his actions is what we’ve seen in the last month at training.

“There was a lot of ball left on the park and there was a hell of a lot of running so it wouldn’t have been an easy test for him but that’s a reflection of his effort and the staff’s job that they’ve done with his rehab.”