Rugby: Chiefs on the title charge

Chiefs flanker Tanerau Latimer clears the ball under pressure during last night's victory over the Bulls in Hamilton. Photo / Getty Images

The Chiefs celebrated Liam Messam's milestone match with a gutsy, come-from-behind win.

The Hamilton side are not used to being behind at halftime but they clawed their way back from an eight-point deficit to make Messam, who with 90 matches last night became the most-capped Chief, a happy man.

For a long time, it looked like his big night would be hollow.

The Chiefs struggled for fluency in the first half. Tawera Kerr-Barlow, named in Steve Hansen's 35-man squad last week, has not played for some weeks and his timing with forwards running in the narrow channels was a split-second off.

That meant the Chiefs were playing too much rugby behind the advantage line and struggled to ask many probing questions of the Bulls' defence. The Bulls did not miss a single tackle in the first half.

Not that there was anything subtle about the Bulls. They based their attack around the lineout, an area where the Chiefs struggled against the Lions and Reds.

The Bulls were a truck-and-trailer penalty away from scoring the game's opening try, but that honour instead went to the impressive Andrew Horrell. The try owed everything to the committed kick chase of Asaeli Tikoirotuma and a shocking effort under pressure by Akona Ndungane.

It signaled a brief period of dominance for the home side, a period that saw them turn down two kickable penalty chances in the hunt for a try.

There was another five-pointer before halftime, but it was the competition's leading try-scorer, Bjorn Basson who crossed, taking Lelia Masaga easily on the outside.

With that, the Chiefs took an eight-point deficit into the sheds. Conversation should have been strained. The Chiefs' fascination with trying to out-muscle the Bulls seemed to be playing into the visitors' gnarled hands.

The attacking talents of Masaga, Sonny Bill Williams and Aaron Cruden were neutered as the Chiefs bashed around the fringes.

The Bulls started the second half in control but slowly the Chiefs gained control. When Craig Clarke turned down another kicking chance to call a scrum, he would have poked his head up just in time to watch his backs execute a stunning set-play try.

That gave them a 21-19 lead, which they ceded almost immediately to the deadly accurate Morne Steyn.

The Chiefs, trailing with less than a quarter of the match remaining, were entering season-defining territory. In that regard, perhaps they will look back on Sam Cane's try with the sweetest sense of satisfaction.

A moved that swept the length of the field culminated in a quick lineout and a Williams' bust through the middle, highlighting his importance.

There were a few hairy moments on the way to the final whistle, particularly as their lineout faltered, but the Chiefs defence was not in a bending mood.

This was an important win for the home team, who got a serious case of the speed wobbles against the Reds in Brisbane a fortnight ago. Coach Dave Rennie and his staff had the bye week to refocus their side as they bid for the New Zealand Conference and, ultimately, Super 15 titles.

It will not be easy. The Crusaders loom with four wins from their past five, including last week's clinical dissection of the Blues, and have the much softer finish.

They meet in the penultimate round of the tournament and the Chiefs would dearly love to maintain at least a six-point buffer before that clash. There is only one way the Chiefs will achieve that - keep winning.

Chiefs 28

Tries: A Horrell, A Tikoirotuma, S Cane
Cons: A Cruden (2)
Pens: Cruden (3)

Bulls 22

Try: B Basson
Con: M Steyn
Pens: Steyn (4)
Dropped goal: Steyn
Halftime: 8-16.