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'They genuinely looked like the Chiefs of 2012': Early-game performance could set the Chiefs up for a comeback season

By Sam Smith
Damian McKenzie. (Photo by Bruce Lim/Photosport)

It’s difficult to get too excited about a team’s prospects when they’ve just lost their tenth match in a row by a 16-point margin.

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But despite the eventual thumping dealt to the Chiefs by the visiting Highlanders, it wasn’t all bad news for the home side.

Before Jona Nareki came to life, playing a starring role in four of the Highlanders’ five tries, the Chiefs were very much on top of their opposition, cruising out to a 20-6 lead. It’s the first third of the game that former All Black James Parson has suggested the Chiefs need to emulate more consistently if they want to break their duck.

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The panel from Sky Sport NZ broadcast from Christchurch after the Crusaders second win of the season and analyse all the key moments from round two of the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition.

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The panel from Sky Sport NZ broadcast from Christchurch after the Crusaders second win of the season and analyse all the key moments from round two of the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, Parsons commented that the Chiefs had the wood over their opposition and were playing like the side that won back-to-back Super Rugby titles in 2012 and 2013. Were it not for some freakish magic from Nareki, the game could very easily have finished with the Chiefs posting a big score.

“It seriously was a one-man show and probably, if you look at it, that’s a positive for the Chiefs,” Parsons said. “It would’ve been a lot closer, if not a Chiefs win, had he not been on the field.

“They genuinely looked like the Chiefs of 2012 and 13. It was around the quick taps, the quick 22, keeping the ball alive, catching the team off-guard. You can see that Lienert-Brown was looking to quick tap and they got so much reward around that.

“And their breakdown was like… I know that when [former Chiefs forwards coach] Tom Coventry came to us, they called it ‘napalm’. They’d clean a ruck and there’d just be bodies everywhere. I think [Naitoa] Ah Kuoi picked through the middle and Brad Weber was there and that led to Sio Tomkinson’s yellow card.

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“They had so much reward in that first 20. Sammy Cane, from the first kick-off, got that turnover. Sione Mafileo – chop tackle, Sammy Cane on the ball – boom.”

Despite sitting on a nine-match winless streak heading into the match, there was still reason for optimism for Chiefs fans. The key players were all on deck, including Cane, Weber, Lienert-Brown and Damian McKenzie, and new coach Clayton McMillan had come on board to cover for Warren Gatland’s absence.

That optimism appeared vindicated early in the game, with Luke Jacobson barrelling over for a try shortly before Damian McKenzie scampered in untouched.

 

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The no-look passes were finding supporting runners and the Chiefs were finding gaps in their opposition’s defensive line.

Then, with Ash Dixon in the bin, a third try looked all but guaranteed – until Tomkinson got fingertips to a chip kick from Bryn Gatland and a grateful Nareki collected the ball and galloped 90 metres down the field to score at the other end.

Still, a 20-11 lead heading into halftime was a good start for the home side, but they simply weren’t able to halt the Highlanders’ momentum in the second stanza.

Livewire halfback Folau Fakatava scored a solo try in the 50th minute to get the Highlanders within touching distance, and from their the visitors ran away with the game.

“The Highlanders came out with a little more vigour and they were starting to win the collision, which put [the Chiefs] on the back foot,” Parsons said. “[That] meant they couldn’t have the stability and … they weren’t showing the picture that the ref was seeing in that first 20 that allowed them to get those results.”

Still, the Blues centurion saw enough from the Chiefs to suggest that with a few tweaks, rewards will come in the near future.

“I don’t think it’s a drastic [problem] for the Chiefs. There’s a lot being said but I’m really positive for where they can go.

“I think, if you look at the tries of Nareki, it’s just one-on-one tackles and maybe some skill execution errors at key times like knock-ons and kicks out on the full that allowed the Highlanders into their territory which led to those opportunities – which are so fixable. They’re not system errors.

“Fakatava’s try, before he did the dummy – and that’s an individual error, to fall for the dummy and go – that was a wall. [The Highlanders] didn’t really look like they were getting through that, to me. I just felt like they were going back and forward, back and forward.

“And then Folau Fakatava scored and it’s almost like the floodgates opened from there.”

“But defensively, and their system – I know they were giving away a few penalties – but they looked good. I still think there’s positive enough signs to say that you’ll see some benefit this year. I’m not saying give up on this season. I was really impressed with what I saw.”

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J
Jon 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 7 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

30 Go to comments
A
Adrian 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

30 Go to comments
T
Trevor 12 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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