Highlanders secure dramatic late comeback to sink Chiefs for second time in Super Rugby Aotearoa
What a match.
That’s all that needs to be said about the Highlanders’ clash against the Chiefs at FMG Stadium Waikato, as they overturned a 24-0 deficit to claim the unlikeliest 33-31 win.
It echoes that of the Highlanders’ last-gasp 28-27 win in Dunedin last month, where Bryn Gatland slotted a late drop goal to sink his father’s side at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
This time, it was Sio Tomkinson who was the hero as he scored a thrilling injury time try to give his side the win in what must surely be heralded as the match of the season.
It was a win that nobody would have seen coming by the 22nd minute given how things panned out from the get-go.
Deprived of field position throughout the opening five minutes of the match, the Highlanders were punished through a Lachlan Boshier try.
Patient build-up by the hosts was rewarded when the blindside flanker burst through a gap created by a Rob Thompson slip up, allowing Boshier to scorch in under the posts untouched.
Highlanders first-five Mitch Hunt had the chance to put a dent in the Chiefs’ lead just moments later via a penalty attempt after some good continuity from his side placed them inside the opposition half for the first time in the match.
The sprayed kick at goal from out in front let the home side off the hook, though, and Warren Gatland’s men showed no mercy in retaliating.
A slew of infringements put the ball back into the other end of the field, and some hard, direct running was enough for Anton Lienert-Brown to double the Chiefs’ lead.
The Highlanders’ lack of discipline shown continued to hurt the visitors, with Rob Thompson sent to the bin for a high shot on young lock Tupou Vaa’i.
McKenzie nailed the ensuing 45m penalty attempt to leave the 14-man Highlanders in a real rut as they faced a 17-0 deficit after just 15 minutes.
The onslaught carried on while Thompson served his sentence in the naughty chair.
Further penalties went against the Highlanders’ favour, which let the Chiefs set up a rolling maul from a lineout five metres from their own line.
Hooker Bradley Slater reaped the rewards as his forward pack marched their way through their opponents to heap more misery on the out-of-sorts southerners.
Some impressive athleticism by Shannon Frizell from the following restart provided the Highlanders with a source of inspiration as they eyed to get themselves on the board and chew into the Chiefs’ hefty lead.
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A pair of knock ons by Marino Mikaele-Tu’u and Aaron Smith just moments apart from each other with the opposition tryline in sight looked to have killed off their chances of doing just that.
However, the Chiefs couldn’t maintain their discipline in their quest to hold out the Dunedin franchise, and the Highlanders’ sturdy lineout drive laid the platform for Mikaele-Tu’u to crash over on the half hour mark.
Bolstering their chances of an unlikely comeback was Chiefs captain Sam Cane’s dismissal to the sin bin for excessive infringements in the space of about four minutes.
His absence injected plenty of confidence into the Highlanders’ attack at the back-end of the half, but the undermanned Chiefs managed to hold out their energised opponents to take a 17-point lead into half-time.
The long-awaited return of All Blacks playmaker Josh Ioane was completed as the second half kicked off, with the 24-year-old entering the fray in place of the error-ridden Thompson.
His entrance into the game couldn’t stop the Chiefs from starting the second stanza with a bang, though, as an early penalty allowed the hosts to set up a rolling maul from close range.
As he did in the first half, Slater took full advantage of the situation to push his side’s lead out by another seven points.
It didn’t take long for the Highlanders to hit back, though, with a heads-up play down the short side – mixed in with some beautiful distribution – enough to set Hunt away for his second try of the Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign.
The increased impetus of the Highlanders’ attack noticeably coincided with Ioane’s induction in a playmaking capacity, illustrating how much he had been missed in the opening half of the season.
It was his halves partner Smith who proved to be more impressive of the duo, however, when he combined with the ever-present McKay and reserve lock Manaaki Selby-Rickit to score a scintillating counter-attack try that spurned from inside their own half.
That renewed sense of energy with ball in hand not only made for captivating viewing, but it put the Highlanders within striking distance of the hosts as the match entered the final quarter.
An overthrown lineout by replacement hooker Liam Coltman looked to have put that all to waste when McKenzie splintered the Highlanders’ defence to score his side’s fifth try of the afternoon, but an accidental offside called against Kaleb Trask acted as a lifeline for the visitors.
From there, the Highlanders edged their way deep into enemy territory to set up a series of pick-and-go’s with the tryline begging.
A breakdown turnover forced by Boshier looked to have defused that threat, but the Highlanders were unrelenting as they continued to chase the unlikeliest of comebacks.
Step up Jona Nareki, who caught the Chiefs napping on defence to canter in untouched from 40 metres with just five minutes to play, and the trusty boot of Hunt closed the gap to only five points.
The Chiefs looked to have solidified their win when Boshier snatched another penalty at the breakdown, but a Ross Geldenhuys infringement handed the Highlanders one last chance at victory.
Tasked with halting the Highlanders’ lineout right on their own line, the Chiefs couldn’t do anything as Smith flung the ball wide from the back of the maul to send Tomkinson through a gaping hole to score under the posts with time up on the clock.
Scenes of jubilation were evident in both the coaching box and on the field as the midfielder dotted down for what proved to be the winning score – with the help of Hunt’s successful conversion.
By comparison, the Chiefs’ coaching box and playing contingent cast a grim picture of dejection and despair as they continue their quest to clinch their first win of the Super Rugby Aotearoa season.
The result leaves the Hamiltonians rooted to the bottom of the competition’s standings ahead of next week’s clash with the Blues, who lead the fourth-placed Highlanders by just three points leading into the latter side’s upcoming bye week.
Chiefs 31 (Tries to Lachlan Boshier, Anton Lienert-Brown and Bradley Slater (2); 4 conversions and penalty to Damian McKenzie; Yellow card to Sam Cane)
Highlanders 33 (Tries to Marino Mikaele-Tu’u, Mitch Hunt, Aaron Smith, Jona Nareki and Sio Tomkinson; 4 conversions to Hunt; Yellow card to Rob Thompson)
Comments on RugbyPass
If rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
23 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
23 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to comments