Playoff run a bridge too far for promising Chiefs - Season Review
Colin Cooper’s first season in charge of the Chiefs was a real test of character.
An away quarterfinal against the rival Hurricanes proved a bridge too far for a side who were continuously knocked down over the course of a grueling regular season, only to get back up and keep fighting time and time again.
With his side’s year ending after a heartbreaking one-point loss against his former team, Cooper will reflect on what was an incredibly impressive season, all things considered. Despite an overhaul of personnel both on and off the field, the Chiefs finished just short of a semifinal berth and won just one fewer match than they did last season.
The depth and resolve of Cooper’s side was pushed to the limit early and often in 2018. Heading into the season, we knew it was going to be a different side after the Chiefs were hit by an overseas player drain – losing 100 caps of All Black experience to offshore clubs or retirements – but no one could have predicted the brutal injury toll the club would face.
Losing players like Tawera Kerr-Barlow, James Lowe and Aaron Cruden already made things tough, and when the injuries hit, the Chiefs were pressed even harder.
The side found themselves without any of the props from their original 38-man squad after six weeks of competition, and were without leaders Brodie Retallick, Sam Cane and Charlie Ngatai for stretches during the season (of the aforementioned three, Retallick was most impressive in 2018 and proves an invaluable member of the forward pack. The All Blacks lock scored a career-best six tries and won six penalties at the breakdown to lead his position).
Despite their overflowing injury ward, the Chiefs miraculously turned their perceived weaknesses into strengths, putting forth one of Super Rugby’s best scrums thanks in large part to their rag-tag front row, and getting the most out of overlooked backs like Sean Wainui.
The front row injury crisis led to key contributions from journeyman Angus Ta’avao – who led all props in minutes played – and helped unearth new All Black Karl Tu’inukuafe, whose story captured the imagination of club rugby battlers the world over. Both players were uncontracted at the start of the season.
Cooper’s faith in his former Taranaki talent paid off, with the aforementioned Wainui making himself a fixture in the starting lineup after injuries kept regulars Tim Nanai-Williams, Toni Pulu and Shaun Stevenson on the sidelines. Another player who started the season without a contract, Wainui finished his campaign tallying 14 appearances and scoring six tries – good for second on the team.
But the real storyline of the Chiefs season – and the narrative that grabbed the most headlines – was star fullback Damian McKenzie’s transition into the No. 10 jersey.
The slippery superstar shone in place of Aaron Cruden in his first full campaign at first-five eighth. McKenzie emerged as an elite playmaker, notching eight try assists and 22 line break assists in his 14 appearances.
Watch: Damian McKenzie’s top 10 plays of the season
He proved to be as dangerous as ever with ball in hand, leading his position in tries scored with six, run metres with 1141 – his nearest competitor managed 895 – line breaks (13), tackle busts (74) and offloads (18).
With time on his side, the 23-year-old is already an elite 10 and will only get better as his time in the saddle increases. Simple errors – including an early interception thrown to Julian Savea, instantly leading to a try – were what ultimately let the Chiefs down in their playoff exit, and the continued sharpening of McKenzie’s decision making as a playmaker will be what gets them over the hump next season.
Unfortunately for Cooper, the Chiefs are set to lose some major experience next season once again, with Charlie Ngatai (Lyon), Tim Nanai-Williams (Clermont), Dominic Bird (Racing 92) and Liam Messam (Toulon) all heading offshore to the Top 14.
With the impending departures of Ngatai and Johnny Fa’auli (Toshiba), the area that will be of greatest concern next year will be the midfield. The Chiefs will have to find someone else to pair with All Black Anton Lienert-Brown. Thankfully things are made slightly easier by the versatile Lienert-Brown’s ability to slide seamlessly between midfield positions.
Former All Black Ma’a Nonu – also a former Hurricane under Cooper – has emerged as a potential midfield option, but at 36 years old he only makes sense as a one-year stopgap.
The Chiefs could make do with what they have, and play either 22-year-old Wainui or 21-year-old Alex Nankivell in the midfield – both have extensive time there at the provincial level – or they could go even younger, with exciting prospects Quinn Tupaea and Bailyn Sullivan (both 19) coming through the grades. Tupaea is set to make his provincial debut for Waikato in August, while Sullivan made his Chiefs debut earlier this year. Other contracted midfielders Regan Verney and Levi Aumua remain untested at Super Rugby level.
Further young talent emerging for the Chiefs comes in the form of hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho, who impressed in his seven appearances, and 21-year-old flanker Luke Jacobson, who shapes as a long-term replacement for the departing Liam Messam in the back row.
The former New Zealand Under 20 captain Jacobson made 13 appearances in his debut season, including seven starts towards the tail end of the campaign. He scored three tries over a two-game stretch against the Crusaders and Highlanders.
The Chiefs player who had the brightest emergence in 2018 was fullback Solomon Alaimalo. The 22-year-old brings an elite combination of size and speed at nearly two metres tall, comparing physically with Wallabies star Israel Folau. He finished the season ranked second among all players in terms of run metres and scored a team-high eight tries. He also finished near the top of the competition in line breaks (19 – 5th overall) and tackle busts (69 – 3rd overall). Named Rookie of the Year by the club in 2017, Alaimalo’s performance makes him tough for international selectors to ignore moving forward. He will be a key piece for the Chiefs for the foreseeable future.
Overall, the future looks bright for this tough Chiefs team. Fielding a roster packed with both established and emerging stars, they will be extremely formidable once they return to their full complement and will be near the top of the New Zealand conference once again in 2019. Their ability to push further in the playoffs will depend on the continued development of Damian McKenzie and will be aided by week-to-week consistency.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Bold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to comments