Damian McKenzie was in fine form against the Waratahs this evening as the Chiefs ran away 22 – 38 victors over their hosts. The victory now sees the Waikato team rise to third place in the Super Rugby Pacific table, behind New Zealand rivals, the Blues and the Hurricanes.
Right from the start it was clear that the Chiefs were fully up for the occasion – with the first half resembling a ‘RugbyDump big hits’ montage. Although their thumps were no doubt impressive, they were verging on the line of legality and after just eight minutes their first issue raised its ugly head. A challenging test for the visitors was made immediately more difficult thanks to an early yellow card from Etene Nanai-Seturo.
The Waratahs made them pay with a close-range effort in the left-hand corner through hooker Julian Heaven as the home side took the lead. The poor discipline displayed by the Chiefs continued, resulting in yet another card just ten minutes later. The sin-binning of lock Tupou Vaa’i allowed the Tahs more open play down the left-hand side as scrum-half Jake Gordon picked up from the back off a ruck to dive over for his side’s second.
When the space just opens up 🙌#SuperRugbyPacific #WARvCHI pic.twitter.com/tndR0K8R1i
— Super Rugby Pacific (@SuperRugby) April 26, 2024
In danger of letting the Waratahs run away with the match, the Chiefs had to react fast with some pretty special plays of their own.
First up was an incredible individual effort by fullback Shaun Stevenson, as he cut through the opposition defence to touch down behind the posts. Next up, a wonderful floated pass by talented fly half Damian McKenzie missed out two players, landing in the grateful hands of Emoni Narawa to touch down in the corner with a typical wingers finish. With the additional two points from Damian Mckenzie, the half ended even-stevens, 12-all.
Chiefs started the second half the way they finished the first – fast.
Initially breaking the defensive line with a 60-metre gain, their dominance continued over the next ten minutes. Orchestrated by McKenzie once again, the Chiefs ran over yet another impressive score through Narawa on the right-hand touchline for his second of the match.
“Bang bang” the commentary team exclaimed, another D-Mac special enabled a return kick play to put Samipeni Finau through the gap before he offloaded to Ratina to finish off.
Put it on a postcard 🤌🏖️
A beauty from the Chiefs ✨#SuperRugbyPacific #WARvCHI pic.twitter.com/XDF1wOidky
— Super Rugby Pacific (@SuperRugby) April 26, 2024
With the Chiefs pulling away, tempers flared up between the two teams, but it wasn’t enough to put the visitors off their game. Continuing to dominate, powerful number 8 Wallace Sititi shortly stormed over for another.
A return fire try from Lachlan Swinton wasn’t enough for the home side, as Kaylum Boshier nulled their efforts with another impressive finish. The Waratahs now find themselves third from bottom after a defeat that will have hurt them.
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