The Chiefs have beaten the brave Brumbies 24–19 in Hamilton in a bizarre game that had periods of huge frustration as the error count rose and rose but then periods of incredible excitement as both sides battled hard for the win.
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Final score
Chiefs 24
Brumbies 19
The Chiefs will go head to head with the Brumbies on Saturday afternoon in Hamilton. Both sides have some momentum going into the game and will want to keep that going right for as long as possible. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 3:15pm AEST.
Both sides will be wanting to win this game and know it really matters for them. The Chiefs are sitting in 5th at the moment overall but they’ve got a tough final game of the season against the Canes and the Highlanders are currently just one point behind them.
If they end the season with two losses they could be in real trouble. Yes they are definitely favourites for this match against the Brumbies and considering how well they tore the Highlanders to pieces in Fiji last week, their fans will be expecting not just a win but a statement.
They have talent all over the park and with Damian McKenzie really growing into the #10 role they are a constant threat from anywhere on the field.
The back row of experienced Sam Cane and Liam Messam is formidable and relative new boy Luke Jacobson brings some exciting young talent.
Charlie Ngatai brings so much talent as well to the centres that the Brumbies defence is going to have its hands full all game long trying to contain all the potential threats.
While the Brumbies are definite underdogs in this game they should not be underestimated. It’s so easy to put too much expectation on David Pocock but when you see how quickly he’s slotted back in and regained his place as one of if not the best flanker in the world, it’s totally justified.
With their win against the Canes last week, the Brumbies will know that they can mix it with the best on their day and while far too often this season they have been one dimensional and error prone, confidence can make a whole heap of difference to a team.
They are going to have to play as well if not better than last week to stand a chance against the Chiefs though and players like Isi Naisarani, Christian Lealiifano and especially Joe Powell are all going to have to have their best games of the season.
Prediction
Momentum is a big thing in sport and the Brumbies definitely have the big mo at the moment. However so do the Chiefs and with them at home as well they are just going to have too much firepower across the park for the Canberra guys.
Chiefs to win by 15 points.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 3:15pm AEST on Saturday.
Marlin
Guest
Isn’t that the TMO’s job? Ken doesn’t need to be there - he has eyes. The point is the refs’ assistants - including the touchies - are pretty well useless atm - all games all countries. Let’s just let the on field ref deal with it and I can live with that but all the bulls$&t they do pick up and all the obvious stuff they miss indicates a broken system. We need a royal commission in my humble opinion. Eg number 1 - that idiot Frenchman got in the halfback’s way and then awarded a try to the Chiefs a few rounds ago - Pocock gets neck rolled twice in one match and NOTHING? But Foolau gets cited for contesting possession (that’s why we love rugby) and knocks over some clown who has been hoisted in the air and dropped by his SINGLE lifter and cops a further week....indian bookmakers are at work here
mick
Guest
Yep. We even saw someone sent off for it in the Aus-Ireland test series.
Pavid Docock
Guest
Thanks for the diatribe "Kirky". I don't know what you saw in my comment that compelled you to reply so hysterically. As a rusted on Brumbies fan, I was trying to be magnanimous and reasonable in my assessment of the game and the referee. It was kind of implied in what I wrote that the Chiefs were the better team - you just need to read between the lines. I admit you have a bit of a point regarding the scourge of players attempting to ref the game. I personally hate the abuse the officials cop each week. However singling out one player for this crime is incredibly unbalanced of you. And furthermore, Pocock's interactions with Rasivhenge were by and large jovial throughout the game. How would you react to a line ball call when your season is on the line?
Kirky
Roar Rookie
Chris Dennis, ~ Pocock consistently appealing to the Referee to do his wishes and giving his opinion to the Ref' simply does not work and never will!
Kirky
Roar Rookie
Bing! The Ref' said very confidently that he was ''content'' with the ruling as he saw it, I've watched about seven times on replay on Fox and it's difficult to tell, so who are we to condemn his decision? This deliberate ''knock down'' is an absolute farce and should be taken for what it is, rubbish! Like myself I'd presume you've played rugby and if so, you'd know as we all do that if a ball is in the air and you're going for that said ball and for whatever reason you just touch it or even make a gesture in an attempt to catch it and miss it,, how the heck are you attempting to ''deliberately knock it down or on", that is just so ridiculous and makes no sense, ~ But!, if a player has the ball and is passing it to his team mate and you deliberately knock it out of the way or down, That is a deliberate knock down, ~ but no grasping for the ball should ever be called a ''deliberate knock down" that's is very prevalent in the game today and it's high time it was booted right out!
Kirky
Roar Rookie
KennoathCarn;t! I didn't realise their was a player with a name such as yours playing in the game mate but it seems as I must be wrong seeing as you were right there alongside the Ref'!
Kirky
Roar Rookie
ED: The Ref being South African makes a difference you think?, if so, why!
Kirky
Roar Rookie
Disenchanted! It's important to remember that the Referee "is right there'' as he has to be and although at times they may get it wrong, in the main they are spot on in their decisions, because their' 'Big Brother'' is watching them also, so if he deliberately favours ANY side, he'd go for the High Jump! The TMO is the entity that should be scrubbed as their rulings at times are diabolical by influencing the Referee of the day to their way of thinking when all they've been asked to do is verify as to what he was asked to do by the Referee! ~ Try or no try and foul play, should be the only calls made and adjudicated on! Get rid of the TMO's, and the game would improve immensely!
Kirky
Roar Rookie
Corne!! Exactly mate, the only fair way!
Kirky
Roar Rookie
Ed: You know as you should that the Conference system is totally unfair by the fact not every team plays each other when the Kiwis get the 'short straw' by having to play each other twice which means they get to play extremely tough rugby as all Kiwi teams do, right through the earlier part of the Season,~ they knock the hell out of each other by playing the hard rugby they are taught to do, and this causes major headaches later in the Season through injuries incurred in that early part of the Season! ~ Whereby, some teams from the other Franchises don't play the Kiwis at all! ~ the Aussies ,Sunwolves, and the Jaguares, to a lesser extent get to play all the easier teams twice and some teams rarely move out of their own patch, so the only way to avoid this unfairness is Round Robin!
Kirky
Roar Rookie
Corne! mate, the Chiefs were playing with 14 men and the Brumbies scored a couple of tries in that period as any good team should! The Chiefs were pretty darned good and it would have been a travesty had they lost, but the Brumbies played well also and in the last two games they've been better that I've seen them for a few years so good on them for that! They need to stop jawing at the Ref tho' it's doing them no good at all as even the Skipper who is entitled to ''chat'' to the Ref' will be allowed a couple of times, then the Ref' gets the pricker' and ignores him!
Jerry
Guest
Is an intentional knock on 'foul play'?
Kirky
Roar Rookie
Fujimo! Wow! the Kiwis don't need to blame the Ref' as they usually win anyway!
Kirky
Roar Rookie
Corne Van Vuuren ~ Obviously you were another on the field right on hand where that unknockon' took place!
Kirky
Roar Rookie
Chris Dennis! ~ Obviously because you were on the field mate?
I can't soeak for all South Africans but I want round robin yes, in my view the only way to measure whether your team is improving or nit
Rasta was actually quite decent up until that final knockon
Kirky
Roar Rookie
There was never a knock on as you say as the Referee was the ''Johnny on the spot'' when the trumpeted by all on this site and other Aussie' rugby sites about him getting it wrong when in fact he didn't, ~ He called it correctly because he was "right there'' when the ''filthy and game losing foul" took place, so that, and the fact that Pocock and others were burbling in the his ear all game telling him how to do his job, that Referee who had a good game would never have gone to the TMO anyway because of that persistent 'advice' being given to him!, I doubt he would be any different to anyone else in being told how he should do his job, ~ just 'plead ignorance', as there's nothing worse than that particularly when it happens in sport! Think Soccer, they do it all the time and it's repulsive and rarely if ever do they get a 'change of decision' so it's a sheer waste of time! The Chiefs played the rugby and deserved to win whereby the only thing the Brumbies did right was by scoring two tries against 14 men, as they should! Pocock got his come uppance from Sam Cane and good job for that and it was a shame when Cane went off with concussion!! One thing Pocock needs to learn if he's going to be Skipper for any length of time, is to desist from bashing the Referees ear as they will only put up with that rubbish for so long and he needs to tell his team to do the same!
Tipene Roar
Roar Rookie
The canes?
double agent
Guest
The disallowed try for a non forward pass was tough.