The Chiefs have beaten the Highlanders 27 to 22 in a tense, close match up this evening in Hamilton.
In the build up to the match fans from all over were sharing their excitement for what promised to be a fantastic clash. Two sides full of talent who both want and expect to feature in the business end of the competition would surely put on a rugby masterclass for all to enjoy.
The first half was perhaps not as free-flowing as anticipated though. The Chiefs had huge amounts of possession but couldn’t convert that into the points they would have wanted to.
They took points early with two penalty goals but lacked some of the crisp execution that they they needed. McKenzie blew hot and cold – sometimes making simple handling errors and then exploiting tiny gaps with his pace and elusive running.
The Highlanders soaked up a fair amount of pressure and struck perfectly when they did have a genuine chance. A perfectly weighted chip from the centre Thompson was picked up by Naholo and he ran it in for the opening score of the game.
The Chiefs continued to have possession but it wasn’t until the last moments of the first half when they turned this into more points – and what a way to do it.
A nice kick wide to the wing from McKenzie was patted back by Wainui as he jumped high in the air and Alaimalo was able to take advantage of the acrobatic move and stroll in to score.
The Chiefs then really pushed ahead early in the second half when Harris scored after just four minutes. It looked like these crucial scores either side of half time could break the spirit of the Highlanders but they fought back well.
Tries from Li and Tomkinson gave them back the lead and the game was building to great tense finish.
Things stayed tense as the Chiefs retook the lead with a try from Wainui that McKenzie converted with great calmness and despite a lot of opportunity to score again the Highlanders squandered too many opportunities and couldn’t score any further points.
The Chiefs will be very happy with the win although perhaps not as happy with the performance. Too many handling errors will annoy them and while McKenzie was good in places he showed that he still has a lot to learn about playing #10 against strong opposition.
The Highlanders will be disappointed – they could have won this one. Losing Sopoaga so early in the game didn’t help but hopefully he’s not out for long.
It will be interesting to see how much of an impact this game has these teams for the rest of the season.
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