A withering closing burst produced a second bonus-point win in as many matches for the reigning Super Rugby champions the Chiefs as they beat the Cheetahs 45-3 on Saturday.
In their first home game at Waikato Stadium since beating the Sharks in last year’s final, the Chiefs scored four of their six tries in the closing quarter of the fast-paced spectacle.
However, before travel fatigue began to hit the Cheetahs in their first game after the long flight from South Africa, they had the Chiefs on the back foot.
For most of the first half the Chiefs were furiously defending, and although they managed to lead 10-3 at the turn they held only 21 per cent of territory and were given a stern message at the break by coach Dave Rennie.
“Nothing like a good telling off at halftime,” captain Liam Messam said of the second-half domination. “We didn’t turn up in the first half and they were beating us at our own game at the breakdowns.
“So we just went back to basics, good clean ball for our backs and we scored at the end of the game. They’re big boys and something we pride ourselves on is the breakdown so we gave our backs some quick ball.”
The Cheetahs opened continuing the form of their stunning second-half fightback against the Sharks last week with flanker Pieter “Lappies” Labuschagne driving them forward.
But, the sole try in the opening 40 came from a rare Chiefs’ foray into Cheetahs territory where Messam took the ball from the back of a ruck and drove over the line.
Gareth Anscombe, who finished with a match-haul 20-points, added the conversion and a penalty while Johan Goosen was successful with only one of four penalty attempts for the Cheetahs.
Goosen was not the only Cheetah to be off-song as handling errors and misdirected passes meant they failed to cross the Chiefs line despite frequent charges by Labuschagne taking them within striking distance.
Ben Afeaki scored the second try, a minute after half-time when a defensive clearing kick by Goosen was charged down and the Chiefs’ prop was on hand to snap up the loose ball and dive over the line.
As momentum began to switch to the Chiefs, the Cheetahs hung on as long as they could until the floodgates opened in the final quarter, allowing Asaeli Tikoirotuma, Anscombe, Rhys Marshall and Ben Tameifuna to cross for tries.
The Chiefs now travel to South Africa to play the Stormers next week at Newlands in Cape Town, while the Cheetahs face the Highlanders in Invercargill.
Ra
Guest
Good on Anscombe. He's another one of that great young running five eight talent that the Kiwis rugby machine has been churning out in recent years. Glad he's found a running back line to enhance his own fine qualities after being pushed to the curb by Kirwin last year. Kirwin wanted him to mature a little. Anscombe's little drive down the motorway to the Chiefs looks like a great call for both himself and the Blues. Kirwin needed a more senior player to drive his team around the park, and he's found him in Noake, and Anscombe needed more senior players around him, and he's found that in abundance in Chief's country.
mania
Guest
cheetahs did well to hold onto ball for the majority of the 1st quarter. goosen still has a lot to improve on. low error rate but didnt attack enough. cant believe sarel is back and starting
Winston, the Cheetahs have always played that way, their problem is continuity of personnel. They struggle to retain their stars for long periods du to lack of money.
winston
Roar Rookie
You've got to love the way the Cheetahs play the game. I hope that they keep pushing a head with that stye of Rugby. It may take a while until it they become a contender but if it starts to click a lot of other teams will be in trouble. They do need a bit more grunt in the forward pack. And it will be great to watch. Once the Chiefs kicked into gear in the second half they dominated. Champion team.
Ryan
Guest
The Cheetahs played well in the first 40 however for a team that was absolutely dominating in the possesion and territory stakes they had absolutely nothing to show for it which speaks volumes for the Chiefs defence even when clearly they were having an off day. Yes fatigue factor kicked in in the last 20 however the Chiefs were also emptying their bench. Every single team knows what to expect on the long haul trips so it comes down to better player management. I would just about guarantee that those who were sat on the bench for the Chiefs match vs the Cheetahs will Start in Africa this coming weekend. The Cheetahs could be a boogey team for a few this year but I don't see them getting close to the finals,
Hightackle
Guest
People are not giving the Cheetahs or Chiefs credit.
Kuruki
Roar Guru
The Chiefs coaches took an educated gamble benching four of last weeks starters, they were always going to finish strong with the players they had on the bench. The Cheetas were excellent in the first half and had all the ball for long periods. The Chiefs aggression in the tackle was awesome and they kept it up for 80 minutes. That young Chiefs hooker is a real prospect. Cheetas ran everything at them but couldn't crack the line. Some of the decoy runners were starting to annoy me running through way before the play and trying to create holes by impeding the tackler. Sometimes i wish someone would just lay them out with a huge hit to get the message through. Brodie Retallick is the best lock in New Zealand.
James
Guest
cheetahs played well in the first 20-30min but clearly ran out of attacking options esp.playing that style of rugby with no line breakers. They ended up attacking sidewards rather going forward and chiefs had easy pickings defending this. Chiefs will still come first in the nz conference. Blues looking good, Saders are notorious slow starters and will prob start hitting from from their 3-4th game, highlanders look promising and Canes Im afraid will finish towards the btm of the table.
The Cheetahs just had nothing left in the tank after half time, the Chiefs struggled to get posession in the first half, but their physicality was just too much for the Cheetahs, and eventually their hard running paid off with plenty of tries. One thing that really did surprise me was the fact that the acheetahs never changed their angles of attack. There was one moment in the first half where their loosehead prop Nkanyane recieved a wayward line throw and popped it inside which almost led to a try when a Chief hand misdirected the overhead pass of Rhule. That was the only time the Cheetahs tried something different. The first 20 minutes of the game their handling was superb until that knock from the misdirected deflection.
richard
Guest
A very lacklustre opening forty minutes from the Chiefs.I thought the Cheetahs were all over them in the first half,especially dominating the breakdown.Whatever Rennie said to the team at halftime,certainly worked as the Chiefs went up a gear.Maybe it was down to jet-lag, but the Cheetahs seemed to run out of steam in the last twenty minutes.Thought the Chiefs forwards came into their own, with Brodie Retallick a particular stand-out. Even this far out,still think the Chiefs are NZ's best chance to win the tournament.