The Chiefs celebrate a try in their win over the Hurricanes. Photo / Getty
Chiefs 23
Hurricanes 12
The Chiefs are back to winning ways.
With the rain heaving down and the wind swirling, fundamentals took on an added significance when they hosted the Hurricanes in Hamilton on Saturday night.
Ball handling, field position and the battle up front always seemed like they would be key to the outcome, and that went to script as the Chiefs saw off the visitors 23-12.
“When we start to come to this point of the season coming into winter, the weather changes and I think the rugby we play has to change accordingly,” Chiefs captain Sam Cane told Sky Sport of the win.
“It was always going to be a battle of the forwards once the weather came in like that and you’ve just got to be able to grind games out. It won’t be a piece of individual brilliance that wins games at this point of the season, it’s got to be a collective effort and I thought the forward pack did a good job.”
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Local derbies always carry plenty of weight, however the shine had been taken off this encounter somewhat by All Blacks rest weeks.
On a night where fans might have hoped to see positional battles between Jordie Barrett and Anton Lienert-Brown, Ardie Savea and Luke Jacobson, and Tyrel Lomax and Aidan Ross, the Hurricanes chose this match as the one to sit their trio, with two vital matches for their top-four hopes against the Blues and Crusaders in the coming weeks.
But while the big names weren’t there, they were well deputised. Brayden Iose was immense in the No 8 jersey, Owen Franks was strong at the scrum and defensively, while Peter Umaga-Jensen had some nice touches.
With enough errors to fill a decent blooper reel and the lineout turning into a bit of a lottery for both teams, the Chiefs were able to make the most of spending much of the game in the right areas.
Expected to be a physical battle, it was one that the error rates dictated. A couple of mishaps by the Hurricanes welcomed the Chiefs into attacking territory in the early stages, highlighted by an overthrown lineout from the visitors 10m from their own line turning into a try for opposing lock Tupou Vaa’i a couple of phases later.
The hosts invited the Hurricanes to play with ball in hand from the outset. The visitors obliged, opting to try and run the ball back with Aidan Morgan and Josh Moorby challenging the line or taking the metres on offer before kicking it back, while Iose and James Blackwell were constantly on hand for strong carries into the teeth of the Chiefs’ defence.
But as they have done all season, the defence was up to the task - turning the ball over at the breakdown or simply making their tackles until the Hurricanes coughed up possession or chose to kick.
And for the most part, the Hurricanes’ defence answered in kind to the Chiefs. While Damian McKenzie was being given plenty of room to work with, the visitors’ defence was stoic and – outside of some early discipline issues that led to the opening try through a Samisoni Taukei’aho lineout drive – gave the Chiefs few openings to exploit.
The Chiefs ground out a 10-0 lead into the break with tries to Taukei’aho and Vaa’i, taking the chances the Hurricanes gave them in the poor conditions, before Vaa’i scored again shortly after halftime.
The Hurricanes did exploit one of few opportunities they were given – with Moorby finding some space to move on the wing before chipping ahead for himself and winning the race to the ball.
They were then gifted a late lifeline when McKenzie was caught in two minds and coughed the ball up for Iose to sprint away to score from 45m out, making it 20-12 with 10 minutes remaining.
Ultimately, however, the Chiefs hung on to take out their 11th win of the season and remain at the top of the ladder.
Chiefs 23 (Tupou Vaa’i 2, Samisoni Taukei’aho tries; Damian McKenzie con, 2 pens)
Hurricanes 12 (Josh Moorby, Brayden Iose tries; Aidan Morgan con)
HT: 10-0
Veteran Sam Cane is given his farewell test appearance.