By CHRIS RATTUE
CHIEFS 32 REDS 29
Careers were resurrected; the game was not.
The Chiefs got on the board in the Super 12 via their win over the Reds at Rotorua, but rugby is still planted in the debit column.
At the top of the plus column was the much-maligned lock Mark Cooksley, whose size means he stands out, for good games or bad. With him was pivot Glen Jackson, who often mirrors the Chiefs' erratic progress.
Cooksley was dominant in the lineout and prominent with charging runs. Jackson inspired one try and goaled eight kicks from eight for 22 points on a flawless goalkicking night when the Reds' Elton Flatley landed seven from seven for 19 points.
Last season, the Chiefs goaled at 59 per cent to their opponents' 79 per cent. Even if the game itself is unrecognisable, goalkicking remains a matchwinner.
There were other fine contributors. Reds wing Ben Tune was supreme, scoring once, setting up another by Toutai Kefu, making cutting runs, and throwing Bruce Reihana out to prevent a try, as the television replay showed so clearly.
Back from injury, Tune may be the best wing in the game, especially since Tana Umaga has decided to bumble around in the centres these days. Kefu and his brother Steve also shone for the Reds.
And Chiefs fullback Loki Crichton proved a game-breaker. His following up produced one try, while the Chiefs had Paul Mitchell in the sinbin for punching. Later Crichton shimmied, then threw a superb pass in a Tune tackle, to send Roger Randle away for the Chiefs' clincher.
But on a night of rare goalkicking feats in front of a crowd of 11,000 t the revamped International Stadium, perfection stopped there as confusion surrounded the tackled-ball rule. Rugby is a game without much rhyme or reason at the moment. Apart from referee Tappe Henning, everyone else had more questions than answers.
Winning coach John Mitchell praised his side's defence, saying: "It was quite outstanding at times. Sometimes you have to win through your defence."
But he added: "It must be a very frustrating time for the players because of the confusion.
"The new rule will be fantastic once a line is drawn in the sand and everyone knows where they stand. There will be a lot of great, quick ball."
Unfortunately if there was a line in the sand, it has been washed over by a tsunami of confusion, leaving spectators as confused as coaches and players.
Reds coach Mark McBain had enough steam coming out of his ears to conjure up images of the geyser behind his team's hotel, although he and captain Daniel Herbert were at pains not to blame Henning.
"Players who are running 100 miles an hour are expected to stop on a sixpence and stand there - it's almost impossible," McBain said. "One day you think you're on top of it and the next week it is a different story."
McBain said players were penalised for not remaining on their feet when in many cases they had been knocked over. And Henning's allowing players to attack the ball on the ground with their hands went against what he had previously believed was legal.
Herbert said players in their own half were opting not to go for the ball for fear of penalties.
Henning claimed the players had shown significant improvement from the first round.
The key was whether a player had voluntarily gone to ground or was pushed.
But players with their heads pointing towards the turf, who were then pushed to the ground, would still be penalised.
New Zealand's Super 12 squads
2001 Super 12 schedule/scoreboard
Cooksley shines for Chiefs, rugby in shadow
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