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'We've probably been lucky': Why the fast-finishing Chiefs can't write off the fifth-placed Hurricanes
Friday night’s Super Rugby Aotearoa match in Hamilton will see the second-placed Chiefs take on the visiting Hurricanes, who are wallowing in last position on the ladder – but that doesn’t mean Clayton McMillan is expecting an easy time of things.
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The Chiefs, despite being on the cusp of earning a spot in the Aotearoa final, have struggled heroically for all four of their wins this season.
In only one of their victories were they leading at halftime, while the winning points in all their matches came in the final five minutes.
Damian McKenzie was the man of the hour in their final three games, scoring a try in the final play of the game to best the Blues, kicking a golden-point penalty against the Highlanders, and managing another long-range kick against the Crusaders to knock over the defending champions.
It’s a sign of the mammoth belief within the side that they’ve come out on top in all of their last four matches.
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The Hurricanes, meanwhile, haven’t been quite so successful.
The Wellington-based side have played six matches this year but managed just a solitary win against the Highlanders. Were it not for their close losses at the hands of the Chiefs (who came back from a 19-point deficit) and Crusaders (who stole the match in extra-time), they could still be challenging for a spot in the final.
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Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan has acknowledged as such, suggesting that the Hurricanes certainly won’t be easy beats on Friday night.
“I think they’ve been really unlucky,” he said. “Just like we’ve probably been lucky, to a certain extent.
“We’ve won some games at the death – a lot of games at the death. What we learned last year is that it could easily go the other way.”
“In a way we hit rock bottom and last year’s review made us look deep into what’s happening within this whole environment.”@RealMikePulman spoke with Clayton McMillan and Anton Lienert-Brown about the Chiefs' transformation into title contenders.https://t.co/15k2aZGVXn
— RugbyPass+ (@RugbyPassPlus) April 21, 2021
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Under Warren Gatland’s rule in 2020, the Chiefs suffered nine straight loss to Kiwi teams to round out the season – six by seven or fewer points.
Whether it was questionable refereeing calls, an inability to handle the pressure or just dumb luck, the Chiefs found themselves on the wrong side of the ledger time and time again.
That’s not a dissimilar situation that the Hurricanes have found themselves in this season, according to McMillan.
“I think the Hurricanes, to a certain extent, are probably feeling the same way that we probably felt last year,” he said, “but I was hugely impressed with [our] effort against the Hurricanes [in] one of those games that we were talking about, that could have easily gone their way.”
A bonus point win for the Chiefs on Friday would cement their spot in the grand final but that will be an incredibly tough ask. Their last bonus point win came against the Waratahs in Wollongong early last year while they’ve not secured a winning bonus point against a New Zealand side since March of 2017.
Still, confidence is high amongst the squad and their four-game win-streak has the team in a good mood ahead of the Friday night clash.
“When you win, everything becomes easier,” McMillan said. “The environment becomes easier, it becomes easier to talk to you guys [the media] – everything becomes easier. But it is a fine line between winning and losing.”
Friday’s match kicks off at 7:05pm NZT from FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton.
Listen to the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod below:
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
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