Highlanders vs Chiefs takes: Millar too vanilla, Chiefs too much power

The Chiefs have beaten the Highlanders 26-23 on the road to remain undefeated at 2-0 after two key victories over New Zealand rivals.

After beating the Blues at Eden Park last week, the Chiefs travelled to Dunedin and managed to pull away in the second half 26-13 before two late tries gave the Highlanders a sniff.

There wasn’t much between the two sides with discipline costing the Highlanders for periods in the second half, with Jona Nareki headed to the bin for 10 minutes which led to the Chiefs pulling away through two tries from five metres out.

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Cam Millar a bit too vanilla
Last week’s clutch hero against the Crusaders, first five Cam Millar, had a different night in Dunedin against the Chiefs. The kick-first No.10 is heavy on that option, and it cost the Highlanders at a golden opportunity with the Chiefs stranded on their goal line. With numbers to burn out wide, Millar went for an all-or-nothing cross-field kick to Sean Withy with no advantage, coming up with nothing.

Except Quinn Tupaea produced a sublime piece of magic, getting the ball for a quick goal line restart, sparking a 100m try the other way. Tupaea’s short drop restart was regathered and he held off the scramble defence long enough to put Carter away. It was a 14-point swing, giving the Chiefs a 14-7 lead, when it should’ve been the other way round. Yes, Tupaea made a genius play, but Millar gave him that opportunity by taking a poor option. The playmaking aspect of being a first five is Millar’s big work on.

The Highlanders 80th minute try came with Reesjan Pasitoa on, and he showed much better poise than Millar to weigh up the options and find the long pass to fullback Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, who drew the last man Veveni Lasaqa for a key bonus point try. But Pasitoa missed both kicks from the tee that would’ve ultimately won the game.

Tangitau’s All Black audition continues
The Highlanders X-factor player Caleb Tangitau again showed big game potential in his match-up with All Black left wing Leroy Carter. An early injection on the opposite side led to a break running onto an offload and try assist to Nareki which gave the home side an early 7-0 lead. When afforded the opportunity, Tangitau continued to impress with offloads, burst onto the ball and raw power through contact. With the game almost lost completely, Tangitau exploded on a kick return to score a brilliant solo try in the 75th minute. He topped the line breaks in the game with three from just seven carries.

Kyren Taumoefolau had his moments and Leroy Carter had his try, but Caleb Tangitau was clearly the best wing on the park tonight. Tangitau is clearly going to be an All Black, it’s just a matter of when.

Chiefs power game sealed it
The Chiefs had a tough night getting their attack shape going, it was really a night for turnover strikes and forward tries. With the game in the balance at 14-13, the Chiefs gained ascendency as the Highlanders’ discipline fell away.

Getting the Landers into the corner proved the answer, as they pounced on a poor overthrow from five metres out for a cheap try to Samisoni Taukei’aho. Another visit to the five ended with the try to Boshier for a 26-13 lead. They went for a rolling maul and barged over with pick and goes. They did what they had to, but it wasn’t pretty.

The Highlanders pack held their heads high, but just got into the wrong areas of the field against a stacked Chiefs pack.

Chiefs will be chuffed at 2-0
Despite limping to victory two weeks in a row, the Chiefs will be over the moon having grabbed two wins over two Kiwi teams with their best playmakers in the stands. The Chiefs attack is not firing completely, but they have Cortez Ratima and Damian McKenzie, named the number one player for 2026 in the RugbyPass’ Super Rugby Pacific Top 50, sitting in the stands. Emoni Narawa came off the bench in Dunedin also, one of the best attacking weapons in the competition.

But it really is their top 9 & 10 that can transform the Chiefs into a juggernaut because the reality is they are not firing with Roe and Jacomb calling the shots.

They get their Grand Final rematch against the Crusaders next week at home.