The Chiefs mixed the good with the bad to see off a gallant Waratahs side for a scrappy 51-27 win in Melbourne on Friday night.
Winger Jonah Lowe’s four tries inspired the Chiefs and ensured it was 1-0 to New Zealand in the first trans-Tasman meeting of the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific season.
The Waratahs were in disarray after red and yellow cards in the first half, losing both hookers – David Porecki and Tom Horton – to injury, forcing uncontested scrums for the last 34 minutes as the Chiefs looked lethal with the ball in space, shifting their attack quickly around the park.
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Despite those setbacks, they fought back to trail by just three points in the 51st minute when halfback Jake Gordon intercepted a Bryn Gatland pass and dashed more than 70 metres to stun the Kiwi side.
The Chiefs then pounced for an intercept try – Lowe picking off a lazy pass from Welsh veteran Jamie Roberts – to seemingly wrestle back some control.
But it came from nowhere and coach Clayton McMillan would have struggled to watch as the Chiefs made error after error, playing into the Waratahs’ hands as the Aussies threatened to stage a remarkable comeback.
Those hopes of an upset soon disappeared, however, with two more late tries to Lowe – adding to his earlier two – as the Chiefs stormed home.
For all the rancour about a flurry of cards and stoppages this season, Waratahs’ prop Angus Bell could have no complaints when he saw red in the third minute for spinning Sam Cane above the horizontal in a dangerous ‘dump’ tackle.
Bell’s fate was sealed when Cane landed on his head. The Chiefs captain appeared to suffer no major effects and was fine to continue, but it was a nervous moment for the All Black’s loose forward after he suffered a serious neck injury in 2018.
The Waratahs were briefly down to 13 players when Roberts was sin-binned for a deliberate knockdown and the Chiefs didn’t waste their chances.
They punished the Tahs, scoring three tries with their numerical advantage. Samisoni Taukei’aho got them rolling via the maligned driving maul and wings Lowe and Quinn Tupaea finished two brilliant attacks.
Speaking after the match, Waratahs’ skipper Gordon had divided feelings about how the match played out.
“What probably hurt us earlier in the game – obviously losing Belly, he’s a big part of our game so that’s a little bit disappointing and then copping a yellow after that and then (loosing) both hookers made it really hard for ourselves,” he told Stan Sport’s coverage.
“I probably have to review it properly to get a real good feel for it but disappointed.
“We’re trying to be tough at the moment, it’s something that we have been running with all pre-season and we’ve seen it the first few rounds.
“But yeah, we’re obviously really disappointed with the start of that game and we felt ourselves clawback, we defended well for long periods. We struggled with the two men in the bin – they (Chiefs) scored 20 points in that period which really hurt us.”
It was a terrible start for the Sydneysiders, but they hit back when Jed Holloway punched through a hole – Cane, uncharacteristically, missing the tackle on the marauding lock – and Gordon was over.
The Chiefs were hot on attack, though, and Tupaea, who was playing out wide instead of his usual midfield position, had his second with an excellent winger’s finish from another sweeping move.
Alex Newsome had the final say of the first half with the Waratahs’ second breakaway try – Angus Ta’avao was this time cheaply brushed off – and narrowed the score despite the Chiefs’ dominance of territory and possession.
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