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Why the Chiefs still have 'plenty to work on' despite another big win

(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

When the Chiefs outclassed defending Super Rugby Pacific champions the Crusaders in Christchurch in round one, the rugby world agreed that this was a very good team.

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But by their own standards, a glaring issue against Moana Pasifika is separating them from the “great teams.”

After shocking the rugby world with a 31-10 win over the Crusaders last Friday, the Chiefs doubled down on their championship credentials with a strong first half against Moana Pasifika.

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Coming up against Moana in the third match of Super Round at Melbourne’s AAMI Park, the Chiefs were expected to win – and win well.

And to put it simply, the favourites couldn’t have started any better.

Inside centre Rameka Poihipi scored inside the opening 10 seconds of the match, and the score was later confirmed to be a record-breaker – becoming the quickest try in Super Rugby history.

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That score was a sign of things to come, as the Chiefs went on a six-try blitz in the first-half. But it was a game of two halves, as Moana Pasifika played themselves back into the match after the break.

Moana fought valiantly in the second-half, and they outplayed their opponents as a result of their efforts, but the damage had already been done.

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While the Chiefs held on to record a 52-29 win, co-captain Brad Weber admitted the team “let off” after the break.

“The first-half was good,” Weber told reporters. “Now my mate here (gesturing to head coach Clayton McMillan) is probably not too happy with the second half and fair enough too.

“Great teams don’t let off and we let off after halftime.

“They brought a lot more intensity and a bit more attitude than us which is not great so plenty still to look at which I guess can still be a positive thing when you win like that.”

Led by star flyhalf Christian Leali’ifano, Moana Pasifika scored four tries in the second-half against their heavily favoured opponents.

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Echoing the comments from his halfback, head coach Clayton McMillan said there was “still plenty to work on” ahead of their match against the Highlanders in round three.

“Still grateful to get the win and we think that Moana in their second year, we played them in preseason, we could see the improvement that they were making,” McMillan said.

“They’ll keep improving and get better and I’m sure they’re going to get some wins so we respected them.

“For us, it’s probably around setting some standards. Obviously we set a high bar last week are the areas we were really good (in last week), we were poor today.

“It’s nice to win but there’s still plenty to work on.

“Previous victories are not a predictor of what’s going to happen in the future, you still have to go out and earn everything that you get.

“In the first half… there was a lot to be positive about, but the second half in general, I think was just scrappy, slow, no flow.

“As a spectacle I wouldn’t have thought it was too great to watch to be fair.”

The New Zealand teams have been in complete control over Super Round, with the Crusaders and Hurricanes winning on the opening night of the three-day event.

Playmaker Richie Mo’unga played a starring role in the Crusaders’ emphatic win over South Island rivals the Highlanders, while Jordie Barrett also impressed for the Canes.

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fl 59 minutes ago
‘Props are awesome…so why don’t they win prizes?’

“The reason most props don’t last the whole game is that they expend proportionally more effort than players outside the front row. Should they be penalised for that?”

No, they don’t last the whole game because they are less fit than players outside the front row. I’d be interested to know if you’d apply this logic to other positions; do PSDT and Itoje regularly last longer than other players in their positions because they put in less effort?

None of this is about “penalising” props, its about being realistic about their impact on a game.


“While scrums are a small part of the game in terms of time spent in them, they have disproportionate impact. Dominant scrums win games; feeble ones lose them.”

Strength at the breakdown wins games. Good kicking wins games. Good handling wins games. Strong defence wins games. Good lineouts win games. Ultimately, I think that of all these things, the scrum is probably the least important, because it demonstrably doesn’t correlate very well with winning games. I don’t think Rugbypass will allow me to link articles, but if you google “HG Rugby Crowning the Best Scrum in Club Rugby” you’ll get a pretty convincing analysis that ranks Toulouse and Bordeaux outside of the 10 best club sides in the scrum - and ranks Leinster outside of the top 30.


“Or there’s Joe Marler’s epic performance in the Bristol v Quins 2021 Premiership Semi-Final, in which he finally left the pitch 15 minutes into extra time having signed off with a try saving tackle.”

Yeah - that’s a good example actually, but it kind of disproves your point. Marler played 95 minutes, which is unheard of for a prop.


“Maybe we need a dedicated Hall of Fame with entry only for props, and voted for only by props.”

Well we have the World Rugby XV of the year. Its only been going for a few years, but in time it’ll be a pretty good record of who are perceived as best props - although the lack of interest most people have in scrums means that perception of who the best props are doesn’t always match reality (e.g. Tadgh Furlong was great in 2018 - but was he really the best tighthead in the world in 2021, 2022, & 2023?).

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