The Super Rugby final was certainly worthy. The match was played at great speed by players putting everything on the line and in contrasting styles.
At the end of an epic struggle the best team in the competition this year came home with the Championship, and from that perspective the result is fitting.
Brumbies fans may not consider the ending fitting, and their team did its best to prove otherwise.
The Brumbies continued their strong upward improvement curve into the final – one that began last year. That curve kept steepling to the point they’d won two finals matches after never making it to the big dance for nine years.
An historic win at the Bulls’ home ground was getting close to the summit of their season, but the first 40 minutes of the grand final was where they put down their highest marker.
It was a flag planted on a high peak, one they’ll aim to better next year – and there is some improvement yet in this young squad.
That first half saw the Brumbies employ their base rugby plan, but at such intensity and speed they had the Chiefs flustered and seemingly falling apart.
Make no mistake – the Chiefs are a well-drilled and cohesive outfit. The way the Brumbies were able to disrupt every ruck and rush every backline movement from the home side was a mighty effort.
The Chiefs were trying to play at a break-neck speed, as evidenced by a number of quick taps taken and the way they tried to keep the ball moving. It took a superb, committed effort to stop them getting into that work and score tries in the first half.
While Christian Leali’ifano had to be alert then speedy to snaffle and intercept and run it in, that try was as much a result of the great Brumbies’ performance that was slowly strangling the reigning premiers.
Their season high-point saw the travellers walking off the Waikato Stadium pitch up 16-9 at halftime, putting butterflies in the hearts of both support groups.
The travel wasn’t blamed by the Brumbies, but that and the ability of the Chiefs to lift the tempo to something any team would struggle with saw them fall away in the second half.
At the half time break the Brumbies had 18 missed tackles. They didn’t miss their 20th until the 61st minute of the game. But by the end of the game they’d racked up 30. That’s a painful last quarter of the match.
While the Chiefs were excellent in the last part of the match – the impact of Bundee Aki and Robbie Robinson off the bench was especially notable – it’s easy to overlook the very strong engine room that really won them the match.
While in the first half the Brumbies were able to continuously pressure the Chiefs ruck, in the second half that swung around.
The Chiefs absorbed a physical barrage and returned fire as the game wore on. That constant effort caused the Brumbies to make more mistakes, just as it worked the other way in the first half.
By the end of the match the only Chiefs forwards not in double digits for tackles were Ben Tameifuna and Matt Vant Leven, while Sam Cane added nine more off the bench.
That kind of workrate is high across the board.
In the end it was their pack that held it together the longest and the Chiefs ran over the top of the Brumbies as the cracks started appearing in close.
I don’t want to focus too much on individuals in a match that was so dominated by team play, but there are two worth touching on quickly.
Liam Messam, the man of the match, deserves special recognition here. He increased his involvement noticeably in the second half to the point where it was his running, the try off the back of the ruck and a crucial ruck turnover that may have been the difference between the sides.
As the Chiefs were attacking the Brumbies late it was usually Messam, who either hopped over/through the ruck or dashed up the first channel, that caved the Brumbies’ line and meant the backs couldn’t suffocate the Chiefs any longer.
George Smith was the other player on the park that stood above his own team mates – and that, not the fact his side lost, is should be what he’s remembered for in what turned out to be an incredibly successful return to the Brumbies this year.
He made the most tackles in the match (20) and carried for more metres than any other forward. The old veteran showed his class one last time for us all. For the second time in his career, Smith leaves big shoes for David Pocock to fill.
In the end it was a try that began deep inside the Chiefs half, as many have this year, that ensured the premiers would lift the trophy a second time and put the final exclamation point on a final to conclude a season rugby fans should be proud of.
Congratulations to the Chiefs in 2013.
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