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The Rebels raced to an early eight-point lead to shock the Chiefs early. Unfortunately for Kevin Foote’s side, they conceded the next 27 points and another two quick tries to start the second half to shoot themselves in the foot.
In the end, the Chiefs recorded a 44-25 victory, which clearly showcased the difference in the two sides.
The Rebels were burnt on the fringes. The Chiefs’ back three – fullback Shaun Stevenson and wingers Etene Nanai-Seturo and Emoni Narawa – ran amok as the Rebels’ spacing was exposed.
Stevenson scored a brace of tries while Nanai-Seturo and Narawa got on the scoresheet too, as the visitors conceded six tries.
“If you look at the 20-minute second quarter is where we let ourselves down – and that’s probably been a theme throughout our season so far,” captain Brad Wilkin said.
“So just finding the small one percenters in those zones to work on and move forward (is where we need to improve).”
Brad Wilkin was one of the Rebels’ best in their heavy loss to the Chiefs. Photo: Paul Kane/Getty Images
Despite the heavy loss, there were positives for the Rebels.
Carter Gordon was outstanding in the No.10 jersey, as he continues to build each week.
The rising fly-half is the most improved player in Australian rugby and, if he continues his upwards trajectory, Eddie Jones will be rubbing his hands together over the next five years.
The 22-year-old ran to the line, made breaks, put players through holes and set-up a couple of tries. Defensively, too, he made a number of strong reads.
He wasn’t alone either. Wilkin was colossal for the Rebels. With Richard Hardwick struggling to make inroads at the ruck, the openside flanker imposed himself at the ruck and won a couple of penalties and a clean turnover too. He was also excellent at the lineout.
Stacey Ili once again showed his steady hand, straightening the attack well, and stepping up in the absence of Reece Hodge, who looks set to spend a spell on the sidelines after a “significant” finger injury.
The replacement props Cabous Eloff and Pone Fa’amausili, too, added huge impact in the open while they were questionably pinged by referee Dan Waenga, who came down hard on the visitors and seemingly turned a blind eye to several incidents.
First there was the dubious foot on the touch from Narawa as he attempted to twinkle-toe down the touchline (even the commentators weren’t convinced). So easy was the decision that not even the TMO was called for despite at least one angle showing his foot was in touch, while the reverse angle looked like the white chalk was touched despite his heel not completely down.
Next, Tyrone Thompson scored straight after half-time despite Josh Kemeny clearly tackled beyond the ruck by John Ryan, before halfback Cortez Ratima taking advantage of the space made by the illegal cleanout.
Later, the Rebels were pinged for a not straight throw by Anaru Rangi, which looked straighter than most. Finally, the Rebels were pinged consecutively at the scrum despite Stevenson, who needed to go onto the blindside flanker, pulling down his prop’s legs.
Nonetheless, the Rebels simply couldn’t string phases together and were punished on the counter as they looked gassed midway through the opening half.
“We started the game how we wanted to fast and with good intent and got out to a good lead, but ill-discipline and just inability to sort of exit, get out of our half, hurt us in that first half,” Wilkin said.
“We definitely came here confident. We knew that if we played good rugby we’d give them a good crack. But credit to the Chiefs, they’re a really strong side. They’ve got great depth and they made it a really hard game out there.”
After an early penalty to Hodge, two lovely balls from Gordon – the first to his Test centre Hodge and the next to Wilkin – saw Alex Mafi score in the 11th minute.
But then the wave of errors and pressure started to tell, as the Chiefs scored three tries in 15 minutes.
The first was straight out of the Chiefs’ playbook. After a poor kick-chase, Narawa burnt the Rebels’ defenders on the fringes and offloaded to his centre Rameka Poihipi, who scored a stunner.
Then, after a penalty to Gatland, Poihipi returned the favour as he chipped ahead for his winger and Narawa did it himself to score despite his questionable left-foot.
A mistake at the lineout saw then saw the visitors exposed on the fringes and a clever kick allowed Stevenson to join the party.
Some Gordon magic, together with Lachie Anderson, sent Ili into score on the stroke of half-time to stem the bleeding.
Carter Gordon was one of the Rebels’ best against the Chiefs. Photo: Michael Bradley/Getty Images
But an early mistake allowed the Chiefs to strike a couple of fatal blows as Thompson and Stevenson scored in quick succession.
Nick Jooste’s try, which came from some forward momentum from Fa’amausili and fine work from the backs, gave the Rebels an outside sniff.
But Nanai-Seturo’s try meant there would be no second-half comeback despite David Feliaui’s late try.
Making matters worse for the Rebels is Hodge’s injury. The versatile Test back left the field midway through the opening half and looks set to spend a lengthy period on the sidelines.
“Hodgey is huge for us just from a leadership and work ethic perspective for the guys on the inside of him, but he’s got quite a significant injury there,” Foote said.
“There’s tendons there and the bone came out of the skin. I haven’t seen the doctor yet but they were quite concerned with it.
Reece Hodge suffered a serious hand injury against the Chiefs in Hamilton. Photo: Michael Bradley/Getty Images
“We’ll see if we can get him operated on as soon as possible.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.