McKenzie stars as Chiefs hammer Brumbies, Jordie sees red

SUPER RUGBY SUNDAY WRAP: A Damian McKenzie-inspired Chiefs reinforced their Super Rugby title credentials Sunday with a statement win over the Brumbies, a week after upsetting the Crusaders.

The Chiefs are a proven class act away from home, winning seven of their last eight on the road, and they kept the momentum going in Melbourne, where all Round Two matches were played this weekend.

In a re-match of last year’s semifinal that the Chiefs won, they again proved too hot to handle for the Brumbies in a resounding 46-12 thrashing.

It was a setback for the Canberra side after opening their season with a convincing 27-point victory over the Melbourne Rebels last week.

All Blacks playmaker McKenzie suffered a rib injury in their epic 29-33 defeat of the Crusaders to begin their campaign, but was declared fit and in the thick of the action Sunday.

He pulled the strings at the back, turning defence into attack to constantly pile on pressure, while scoring a try and adding 16 points with the boot in the six tries to two bonus-point win.

“He’s huge for us, he’s a very experienced campaigner,” Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson said of McKenzie.

“We’ve got some good leaders in the team, but he really steps up and just owns the attack.”

Asked if it was the perfect game by the Chiefs, Jacobson admitted it was close.

“Really happy with how we went. Last week we probably had one half, played really good footie, and dropped off big-time in the second half,” he said.

“So really proud with how the boys stayed at it for the full 80 [minutes].”

The Chiefs started strongly, surging 10-0 clear after a counter-attacking try from Xavier Roe.

The dangerous Corey Toole pulled five points back for the Brumbies, but the Chiefs dominated possession.

Further tries from fullback Etene Nanai-Seturo and McKenzie sent the New Zealanders to the break with a 25-7 advantage and there was no let-up this time in the second half, bagging three more tries, including a brace from Cortez Ratima.

Reds suffer heartbreak

‘Meanwhile, The Reds have lost a helter-skelter battle against the Hurricanes in the final match of Super Round in Melbourne, going down in extra time 33-38 to give the Kiwis a hard-earned victory over their Australian rivals.

With the score 33-33 at the end of full-time, reserve prop Pasilio Tosi barrelled across the line six minutes into extra time to secure the win.

It was well-deserved after the Hurricanes played 20 minutes of the second half with 14 men after All Blacks centre Jordie Barrett was given a red card for a high tackle.

In an enthralling encounter, Queensland and the Hurricanes went toe-to-toe from the opening whistle, with the score 19-19 at half-time.

Playing his 100th Super match, Barrett got a yellow card in the 57th minute for a shot on Reds fullback Jordan Petaia, who was also forced off from the head knock, with the Television Match Official then upgrading it to red.

No one wants to see Jordie Barrett getting sent off on his 100th appearance for Hurricanes, but if you stay that high you run the risk of 🟥.

Absolute thriller of a match.#SuperRugbyPacific#HURvRED pic.twitter.com/fkFWN2gZMD

— Progressive Rugby (@ProgressiveRug) March 3, 2024

The Reds looked to have hit the front a minute later, with Peni Ravai charging over the line but replays showed the replacement prop had knocked on.

Both sides continued to press for the winning points but desperate defence kept the match tied up.

The Hurricanes’ points came through six tries, with two tries each to All Blacks halfback Cam Roigard and fullback Ruben Love, while the Reds shared the spoils, with five players getting over the line.

Queensland’s next challenge is the unbeaten Chiefs. Not only is Petaia in doubt, the Reds could be without first-choice prop Alex Hodgman (shoulder) and centre Hunter Paisami (concussion).

Chiefs 46-12 Brumbies

The scorers:

For Chiefs:
Tries: Ratima 2, Nanai-Seturo, Roe, McKenzie, Ioane
Cons: McKenzie 5
Pens: McKenzie 2

Brumbies:
Tries: Toole 2
Con: Lolesio

Teams:

Chiefs: 15 Shaun Stevenson, 14 Liam Coombes-Fabling, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Rameka Poihipi, 11 Etene Nanai-Seturo, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Xavier Roe, 8 Luke Jacobson (captain), 7 Kaylum Boshier, 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Manaaki Selby-Rickit, 3 George Dyer, 2 Bradley Slater, 1 Ollie Norris.
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Jared Proffit, 18 Reuben O’Neill, 19 Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 20 Simon Parker, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 Daniel Rona.

Brumbies: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Andy Muirhead, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Ollie Sapsford, 11 Corey Toole, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Ryan Lonergan (captain), 8 Charlie Cale, 7 Luke Reimer, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Tom Hooper, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Sosefo Kautai, 2 Lachlan Lonergan, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Billy Pollard, 17 Blake Schoupp, 18 Rhys Van Nek, 19 Cadeyrn Neville, 20 Jahrome Brown, 21 Harrison Goddard, 22 Declan Meredith, 23 Tamati Tua.

Referee: James Doleman
Assistant referees: Dan Waenga, Mike Winter
TMO: Brett Cronan

Hurricanes 38-33 Reds

The scorers:

For Hurricanes:
Tries: Love 2, Roigard 2, Tosi, Naholo
Cons: Cameron 4

For Reds:
Tries: Wilson, Nonggorr, McDermott, Flook, Faessler
Cons: Lynah 4

Red card: Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes, 56′ – foul play, high and dangerous tackle)

Teams:

Hurricanes: 15 Ruben Love, 14 Josh Moorby, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Kini Naholo, 10 Brett Cameron, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Brayden Iose, 7 Peter Lakai, 6 TK Howden, 5 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 4 Caleb Delany, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Xavier Numia
Replacements: 16 James O’Reilly, 17 Pouri Rakete-Stones, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Justin Sangster, 20 Veveni Lasaqa, 21 Jordi Viljoen, 22 Riley Higgins, 23 Salesi Rayasi

Reds: 15 Jordan Petaia, 14 Suli Vunivalu, 13 Josh Flook, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Jock Campbell, 10 Tom Lyngah, 9 Tate McDermott, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Liam Wright, 5 Ryan Smith, 4 Seru Uru, 3 Zane Nonggorr, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Alex Hodgman
Replacements: 16 Josh Nasser, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Sef Fa’agase, 19 Cormac Daly, 20 John Bryant, 21 Kalani Thomas, 22 Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, 23 Mac Grealy

Referee: James Doleman
Assistant referees: Nic Berry, Damon Murphy
TMO: Brendon Pickerill