Emoni Narawa scored two tries in the Chiefs' win over the Waratahs. Photo / Getty Images
Chiefs 24
Waratahs 14
The Chiefs are unlikely to play a game more frustrating than their 24-14 win over the Waratahs on Friday night.
It was largely one-way traffic all evening in Sydney as the Chiefs dominated in possession and played the game at the right end of the field.
But while that was the case, their ability to execute inside the opposition 22 at times seemed non-existent as most of their attacks fizzled out through handling errors or penalties.
A lot of that came down to the pressure the Waratahs were putting on the breakdown, forcing the Chiefs to match that intensity and capitalising any time the Chiefs were slow to the cleanout.
It was all set up well for the Chiefs early on as they cracked the Waratahs’ line just four minutes into the match. Welcomed into Waratahs territory through a penalty, the Chiefs shifted the ball from the ensuing line out, and Bryn Gatland took an aggressive line into the defence to exploit a gap for the first try of the evening.
But instead of being able to go on with the job, the Chiefs were held in check by the Waratahs’ defence, despite being constantly given field position through penalties. What made it all the more frustrating for the Chiefs was that their defence was standing strong and the Waratahs barely fired a shot through the opening 40 minutes; scoring a try of their own in opportunistic fashion as Jake Gordon picked off a Gatland pass and ran away.
The second half started out in a similar fashion; the Chiefs turned the ball over deep in Waratahs territory immediately following the restart, only to cough possession up moments later.
By the 50-minute mark, Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan had seen enough and brought in reinforcements in the form of Shaun Stevenson and Samisoni Taukei’aho. The pair made an immediate impact and, after a Damian McKenzie penalty, the Chiefs finally crossed the line again through right wing Emoni Narawa.
From there, the game turned completely on its head. After 55 minutes of defensive domination, both sides threw caution to the wind and the game suddenly opened up.
With a 10-point lead, the Chiefs looked to get more aggressive at the breakdown and try to force turnovers, but instead the Waratahs found some space to exploit.
The hosts hit back through openside flanker Michael Hooper to close the gap to three after 61 minutes and all the momentum was with the home side.
That was until a deft kick in behind the line from Stevenson was scooped up by Nawara for his second try of the night, pushing the lead out to a more comfortable margin for the final minutes of the game.
The result sees the Chiefs remain unbeaten after the opening five rounds of the season, with a date against the Blues next weekend in Hamilton.
Chiefs 24 (Emoni Narawa 2, Bryn Gatland tries; Damian McKenzie 3 cons, pen)
Waratahs 14 (Jake Gordon, Michael Hooper try; Ben Donaldson 2 cons)
HT: 7-7
The All Blacks star made a brief appearance at his new club.