A battle of two halves as Chiefs come out on top

It was an action-packed top of the table clash in Hamilton on Friday night at FMG Stadium, with the Chiefs remaining unbeaten with a 49-24 win over the Crusaders. 

The Chiefs looked to be scoring early in the fourth minute, but Aidan Ross got held up over the line. Play was then taken back for a penalty advantage that was taken too quick for the Crusaders to respond, giving Emoni Narawa the chance to take a quick tap and cross the line for the first time in the match. 

A successful conversion by Damian McKenzie gave the home side an early 7-point lead. 

Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson was sent off for an HIA, which would put him out for the rest of the game.  

Then the setbacks kept coming for the Chiefs when Rameka Poihipi went down with an injury after a carry off the back of the scrum, making way for Quinn Tupaea to make an early entrance in front of his home crowd for his 50th Super Rugby match.  

An early warning from referee Angus Gardner was handed to the Crusaders to show more discipline. The Chiefs capitalised on the penalty and gave themselves a 10-nil lead.  

The Crusaders had their first opportunity inside Chiefs territory in the 13th minute, where Angus Gardner warned the home side of a lack of discipline.  

The Crusaders broke the Chiefs line of defence with some brilliant attacking, and a pass back in field allowed Preston to fly away for his fourth Super Rugby try. 

To add to the already action-packed first half, Tupou Vaa’i was given a yellow card for a high tackle on Fletcher Newell.

Despite having a man in the bin, Chiefs halfback Xavier Roe spotted a gap in the Crusaders defence, and the Chiefs struck again and stretched their lead to 10.

Then an offside penalty for the Chiefs saw Sevu Reece get one back on Emoni Narawa with his own quick tap and offloaded to Blackadder to close the gap to just three, putting the Chiefs at 17, Crusaders 14 at halftime. 

The first half saw both teams strike the perfect balance of structure and instincts as fans got to enjoy a tense 40 minutes of rugby.  

The second half started with the news of Fletcher Newell’s smart mouthguard technology triggering late after the hit he received from Tupou Vaa’i. This kept him sidelined for the rest of the game and he was replaced by Sam Matenga.

The Crusaders showed intensity and dominance at the beginning of the second half. 

Hamilton-born Taha Kemara was replaced by James O’Connor and he quickly inserted himself into the game. Sevu Reece was heading for the line with James O’Connor in support, until he was taken out and held back by Josh Lord. A penalty was awarded which O’Connor converted to draw the scores at 17-all. 

Then in the blink of an eye, the momentum changed, and Leroy Carter came bolting down the sideline to touch down in the corner and put the Chiefs back in front. There’s a reason his nickname is boomfa with that strong barge over the line.  

The Chiefs then found another gear and two quick back-to-back tries drew the score out to 29-17.  

A try for Josh Jacomb in the 65th minute followed by two quick tries from Quinn Tupaea stretched the deficit to 29 points and put a win for the Crusaders out of reach with only five minutes remaining.  

The Crusaders had one final hit back when Antonio Shalfoon marched over the line. A conversion from James O’Connor put the scores at 46-24. 

Damian McKenzie converted one last penalty to have the final say in a match that was very much a game of two halves.  

Head Coach Rob Penney says the Crusaders were “only operating on four cylinders out of the six” 

“There was a consistent theme throughout the game – the chiefs were on top of us, playing through us, playing around us and for one reason or another, we just weren't able to counter it tonight, they were just too good.” 

Captain David Havili says the Crusaders execution wasn’t at the level it should have been in the second half.  

“The Chiefs put us under a lot of pressure in the back 20 of that last half and that’s what an 80- minute performance looks like; they had a great game,” 

“We’ll regroup and review the game on Monday, but there’s still plenty to be proud of in that effort,” Havili says.